The Voice Within
by horseg27
Summary: TFP An Autobot mysteriously finds herself waking up alone in the woods. She has no recollection of anything before that moment. How she got there or what she was doing is a mystery. But for some reason the Decepticons are after her. All that she really knows is that she has this voice in her head that knows more than it's telling.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first Tranformers fanfic and for the past few weeks has been like my favourite personal project. It's set in the Transformers Prime universe after the events of Legacy and the gaining of the Star Saber and before they have decoded any of the last four sets of coordinates.

Also note that underlined stuff is the mysterious voice.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

To anyone else on the planet it was just a normal old day, yet to some it was anything but normal. Something was happening within a forest situated below the shadow of a mountain range. Hidden in the thick woods lay a seventeen foot tall robotic being. Dark purple armour plating covered its currently unconscious feminine form.

Slowly she woke, letting loose a groan as she did so. Blue optics opened to look out at the world. Sitting up and hearing metal moving she looked down at her body with surprise and confusion. Had she always looked like this? She didn't think so and yet here she was.

"What's going on? What happened to me?" Even the sound of her own voice sounded foreign to her but at the same time familiar.

Trying to process what was happening the femme repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists staring at her hands in shock. Slowly she started to look over the rest of her body, or at least the one she currently possessed. The metal that made up her outer shell was dark purple in colour with dark grey metal at her joints between the purple plates. On her shoulders she noticed that she some sort of marking, though she did not recognise what it was of.

Rising to her pedes she looked around, not recognising the forest around her. She kept wondering what she was doing there – questioning why everything felt strange – and why she came up blank when she tried to remember anything. Even though she did not know her purpose there she had a feeling that she should start walking and not having a better idea, she did just that.

Walking along she was having trouble understanding what had happened but still could not think of what had happened before she woke up. She had no memory of anything before then, it was like all her memories had gone missing. There was something about the situation that just didn't sit right with her. Something that caused her to feel very afraid.

Drawing closer to the bottom of the mountain she heard voices. Going towards them she came to the edge of the trees. Peering out she saw a crash site, but not just of any old vehicle, it was a spaceship's crash site and it was not abandoned either. Other robots were wandering around, the two tallest ones were conversing and just within range of her hearing. One robot was silver while the other was blue-grey and they – or really one – was talking loud enough for her to hear.

The taller one was silver with sharp spikes protruding from his shoulders. His optics were red and glowing. He spoke with a harsh gravelly voice seemingly the leader of these things, "She must be around here somewhere! She can't have gotten far. Find her! She must have the plans in her head! Bring her to me!"

The blue-grey one, nodded his faceless head. Wordlessly he indicated to the other robots around him. These other beings all looked alike with purple and black colouring and a thin red strip where their optics would be.

_Run. now,_ spoke a voice in her head and not really wanting to wait around to find out what exactly was going on, she did just that. Turning around she run off as fast as she could, hardly questioning what was talking to her. Unfortunately her escape did not go unnoticed.

"There!"

Glancing behind her, the femme's optics widened in fear as some of the purple robots appeared to replace their arms with some sort of weapon and began firing upon her; while others transformed into jets.

"Get her!" roared the terrifying silver robot before he too turned into a jet unlike anything she'd ever seen (or believed she had with no remembrance of her past).

She was unable to keep the squeak of fear from coming into existence, knowing that she could not possibly outrun a jet. _What do they want with me?! What did I ever do to them?!_

The silver jet roared up behind her, firing a shot which hit the ground in front of her. This time she let out a full scream, her arms automatically raised to shield her from the debris that was thrown into the air.

"And here I thought you were supposed to be a seasoned fighter, from what I've heard of your exploits. I'd expected such great things from you. "

The femme glanced up at the jet briefly before continuing her plight for freedom. _What is he talking about? I- I don't know how to fight. I don't even have anything to fight with!_ Everything was just so confusing, nothing so far made any sense.

_Hide in the cave just up ahead,_ came a voice from inside her.

"What?" she uttered in confusion. "Who was that?" This time processing that it wasn't just her own thoughts.

_Please, just listen,_ it urged.

"Ok then..." Still confused she kept going and soon enough she did see the entrance to a cave, just large enough for her to walk through.

Ducking into the cave she was sure that her pursuers would soon follow her so she kept going, the cave widening out as she went. Her initial shock was starting to wear off and fear was growing with every step she took; the rattling of metal echoed off the walls from her shaking limbs. The femme did her best to control it but it was a lost cause. The stress of waking up in a strange place, certain that things were not as they once were and then being shot at by some strange robots was all too much for her. How was this not a crazy dream!

"This can't be happening. It can't be real! And why can't I remember anything!"

_Calm yourself child,_ the inner voice spoke again.

"That's easy for you to say, you're just a voice in my head!" she cried back at it, clearly freaking out.

It did not speak again, instead there was the sound of other robots coming through the caves towards her. This prompted her into running again, certain that she was running for her very life from these beings.

"Come out, come out wherever you are Autobot. You know you can't escape. So why don't you save us all the trouble and come peacefully," called out a voice, one she recognised to be the leader of those chasing after her.

Ducking around a corner the femme hid behind some rocks. She was sure she could not get away with hiding there for long but she felt drained and she could not keep running forever.

"If you play nice, I might just let you live."

_Like slag he will,_ the voice muttered.

_Yeah and you've been so helpful so far. _

_Just shut up and listen. You need to activate you blasters, that way you can at least fight back and you might be able to get out of this situation._

"What? I don't- I don't know how to do that!" she whispered back.

_Relax you mind and focus on your arms, think about them becoming weapons._

Having no better options as the unpleasant one and his minions got ever closer, she took a breath and closed her optics. Trying to calm herself she did as the strange voice said, to relax and focus her thoughts on her arms.

There were soft sounds of moving metal like those she had heard from the robots as they transformed into jets. Opening her eyes she gasped staring at her arms in wonder. They were some sort of blaster like the voice had said, the weapons having replaced her hands.

_Well done now fire at them._

"Um, where's the trigger?"

_There is no trigger you control it with your mind._

"Ok..."

Thinking about firing the blaster she was caught off guard when it actually went off, letting loose a shot into the wall, drawing her enemies attention. At first she was elated with what she had done before dread filled her, realising that it had given her position away.

_Scrap, now you've done it._

Whimpering, she scooted closer against the rock face wishing it would swallow her up.

Just as the footsteps were drawing near a youthful voice broke in. "Come get some of this 'Cons!"

Blaster fire broke out, earning a growl from the silver mech as he turned to face the intruder. "Get him! I won't have him ruining my plans!" his yell echoed off the walls.

With the idea that 'enemy of my enemy is my friend,' the femme tried to shove away some of her fear and drew on whatever courage she might have to leap from behind her rock. While the large one's back was turned she fired a few shots in his direction – all of them missed. "Aww..." she whined, disappointed that her best efforts had done nothing.

He turned back to her. "Is that all you've got?" Letting out a menacing laugh, he managed to destroy any confidence she might have had.

Lifting his arm towards her, she got a very good look at the large cannon situated there. Instinct told her to run but she was frozen to the spot, unable to remove herself from the weapon's path.

"Fear. I see that it has consumed you. Well let me put some of it to rest. I'm not going to kill you... Not yet anyway."

Behind the large silver mech was they young bot who had interrupted earlier. Now within sight the female saw that he was mostly white and blue in colour with red trim. Blasting one of the purple trooper robots in the head the young bot shouted at her. "Run!"

However, she was never given the chance to respond, the cannon on the large mech's arm went off, hitting her lower left side. She screamed out in pain crumpling to the ground. Clutching the wound she momentarily drew back a hand to see a blue substance covering it. _I really don't understand..._ Was her last thought before falling unconscious.

The silver mech grinned, while the other bot fought to get to her. "Take that one with us. He may be useful to me."

"No!" The younger white and blue mech yelled but he was quickly overwhelmed and they were both carried away.

The purple femme came to hours later, waking in what could be easily described as a nightmare; bolted to a slab of metal sitting at an angle, held down at the wrists. The room where she found herself looked like a highly advanced laboratory, even the walls were like from a science fiction setting. Attached to her wound was a thick cable though she did not know of its purpose. Was it to help or hinder?

"Oh look who's awake. Glad to see you'll be joining us for the procedure." Looking over at who said that she saw a robot with red colouring, what looked like headlights on his chest and car doors on his arms.

"Wh- what do you want with me?"

He didn't get a chance to respond as the silver mech that shot her walked through the door. "Lord Megatron, you're just in time. I was just about to prepare our 'patient.'" The red one addressed him.

"Good." The one called Megatron replied, "I'm most anxious for us to get started."

"Of course. I'll finish setting up the cortical psychic patch and you'll be ready get what you want." He grabbed a long cord which he promptly attached the back of the femme' head.

_Slag, this isn't good,_ came the voice.

With a nervous grimace she thought, _You don't say._ Though she did not fully understand what it was they were doing, she was sure anything where you hook up a cord to someone's head could not be good. The other end of which was plugged into Megatron as he lay on another slab of metal and both their bodies slipped instantly into recharge.

The world they stepped into was a grassy plain with a herd of horses grazing in the distance. A gentle breeze blew against the grass allowing the blades to dance with the wind, while the soft noise of the horses and the twitters of unseen birds added to the sense of calm over the area. The purple femme stood staring over the landscape getting the sense that she knew the place; feeling comfort and peace in the setting. Or she had until Megaton stepped up.

"Now 'Autobot' show me the weapon plans."

Stepping back fearfully, she stuttered a reply, "W-w-weapon p-plans?"

"Don't play dumb with me! It won't help you here for we are inside your mind. So get me those plans!"

Her optics grew wide. They were inside her head! Her gaze darted about trying to make some sense of this, before coming to the conclusion that it had something to do with that cord and the cortical psychic patch that guy was talking about.

Megatron took a menacing step forward, stomping down his ped heavily, fist held threateningly in front of him. "I'll tear this place apart if I have to!"

"Leave the girl alone Megatron! I know what it is you want." The voice boomed from all around them.

A look a shock and confusion flickered across Megatron's face as he looked about not having expected to hear another voice, let alone one that surrounded them. He quickly regained his composure, a smile lifting up his face and turned away from the frightened femme. "Now that sounds more the the spirited one I know. Come on out and put away the snivelling little thing before I do it for you."

The purple femme took the chance to move further away from Megatron, letting the voice from her head take over the conversation.

"I cannot do that Megatron. She stays as she is. Unharmed. I might be able to give you what you want though if you get out of my head and let me go."

The silver being rubbed his chin seemingly thinking it over. "Fine," he replied, "I will consider letting you go once I get the weapons."

A hmmm came in reply before writing and diagrams appeared like a screen hovering in the air before the intruder.

"You have been most helpful," he chuckled to himself, "But I never took you for one who thought so much of being out in organic life. I expected to find you in you most favoured lab. You haven't turned your back on your beloved science have you? You were talented and it would be such a shame if you had."

"You have what you want, now leave!" the voice yelled, clearly irritated.

Megatron chuckled again, as he disconnected, "Till next time, Violetwind."

Unseen to both was a figure hiding in the shadows, watching...

The femme woke with a gasp, back in the creepy laboratory. Reality was not where she wished to be right then, not in her current predicament.

"Knock Out, start work on constructing the weapons she showed," barked Megatron as he sat up from his own table. "And if there's any materials you require, we have an Autobot that I'm sure would do anything to make sure we don't further harm one of their 'own'..."

"Yes, Lord Megatron."

With a sinister grin the leader left.

Knock Out glanced back at the figure strapped to his table, before turning back to his computer monitor. "Never known any bot to to have something from the fleshies world like that. You certainly seem to be a strange one." He then fell silent as he became caught up in his work; leaving her to her own thoughts.

_Violetwind... Is that my name?_ She wondered.

_Sort of,_ came the voice.

_Sort of? That doesn't make any sense._

The voice didn't reply.

_Well is it or isn't it my name?_

_It is the name you should answer to._

_You know that's rather cryptic right?_

Once again the voice did not answer.

_Nothing else you want to add?_

Silence.

"Fine," she muttered quietly wondering if she' d gone mad. With a sad sigh her thoughts turned to what would become of her if Megatron let her go. She did not know what she was to do once she was free, she did not have anyone to turn to. Then again there was something more chilling. What if he didn't?

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So what did you think? I'd love to hear from you! But don't expect answers about what's going on with the voice and such as that would give away the plot ;)  
Updates shall hopefully occur every week as I do have a few chapters completed already.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you again to my lovely reviewers! I appreciate your comments!  
This chapter deviates a little from focusing around Violetwind to Smokescreen and the Autobots, mostly a bit of set up for stuff.

And I've decided that chapters will be posted every Saturday (so Fridays for most of you). This gives me the ability to hopefully keep a buffer of chapters in place and we don't go for weeks/months without updates should something happen. :)

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Chapter 2

"Hey, Smokescreen..." Knock Out called happily. "I have a nice little job for you, a little shopping errand, you might say."

The white and blue robot that was Smokescreen – his hands in cuffs – looked over at the speaker. "And what makes you think I'd do anything for you?"

The red mech grinned. "Let me just show you a very good reason for doing as I say." Waving his hand he indicated for two of the vehicon troopers to bring their captive along.

Smokescreen glared at the Decepticons as they flanked him and started dragging him along after Knock Out.

The Decepticon medic led them back to his lab. "Just in here," he said stepping in and pointing towards the purple femme in recharge attached to his table. "So far she's still alive but that could change very easily. It all depends... on you..." He was ever so pleased at having a bot's life in his hands.

The Autobot tried to lunge forward trying to see if she truly was alright but was stopped by the vehicon troopers. "You let her go!"

Knock Out picked a bit of dirt off himself, not even bothering to glance at the prisoner. Bringing him there had done just what he had hoped, aggravate Smokescreen as well as putting him in a difficult position. "I think that really depends on you. Help me out or..." he smirked, "She dies. Pretty simple really."

The commotion had woken Violetwind; the femme stirring and looking over at those who had roused her from her rest. Recognising the white and blue one from before she glanced at him with worry. He had been captured too. A feeling of guilt rose up in her, believing it could only be her fault that he was there.

Seeing her awake and looking over at him as she did, Smokescreen knew he could not risk her life and had to do what the Decepticons wanted. So with this in his mind, he gave in but did so bitterly, "Fine... I'll do what you want."

Pleased with the results, Knock Out approached his captive, lifting the bot's chin with his finger. "So glad you see it my way, Smokescreen." Stepping back he waved off the troopers, "Take him away until we need him."

"Wait! Don't I get the chance to talk to her?"

Knock Out put on a small show of thinking about it before grinning. "Nope."

The red medic received a parting glare from the Autobot as he was taken away but just before he left the room his expression became pained as he felt unworthy for not having been able to rescue the femme the first time when they were out at the cave, thinking that if he had been a better fighter they would not be there.

It was not long before the Decepticons sent Smokescreen on an 'errand' for them. His hands were no longer in cuffs but he was not about to fight back. They would not hesitate to kill the femme if he did. All it would take was one of the vehicon troopers to comm. Knock Out and she would be nothing but scrap metal- not something that he was going to let happen.

"You ready, Autobot?" A trooper asked giving him a rough shove forward.

"Ready to be out of this place," he retorted. In truth though, Smokescreen was not ready at all. They were about to infiltrate a uranium processing facility run by humans and he did not wish to do anything to harm the planet's natives, knowing that Autobots were supposed to protect humanity.

Worse was the fact that he could not get in touch with the rest of the his team. The 'Cons were scrambling his communications rendering it impossible to contact them and would be continuing to do so as they went on the raid. He just hoped they would be able to track his energon signature when he left their ship and perhaps be able to come and stop them.

The familiar whirling sound of a ground bridge alerted him to the fact it was time to go. He was ordered to get moving and grudgingly complied, stepping into the swirling blue green portal. _I hope you guys don't take too long,_ he thought to himself.

Alarms were going off and most of the humans had fled as Smokescreen walked out of the ground bridge. Immediately one of the vehicons gave him a shove and a command. "You, start collecting those containers."

"Yes, sir," he replied giving a mock salute and getting to work with a heavy spark.

The minutes ticked by ever so slowly and the white and blue bot was beginning to wonder if the other Autobots would show up at all but his wishes were indeed granted.

The deep voice of their leader, Optimus Prime, caused all the troopers to pause for just a moment. "Hold it right there, Decepticons. Your thieving ways shall end now."

With him were the blue two wheeler Arcee and the yellow and black striped Bumblebee. It was Arcee who spotted their team mate first. "Smokescreen?" She was shocked and confused as she caught sight of the mech helping move containers.

Bumblebee added in his own beeps of confusion.

The mech opened his mouth to reply but the shots started to ring out from the vehicons, cutting him off. The fight had begun.

The Autobots quickly sprang into action, leaping out of the way to avoid the incoming fire and taking cover to retaliate in kind. Though they did not fire at their fellow Autobot, still not sure of what he was doing there.

"Smokescreen, what's going on?" Optimus called in between shots.

"Keep your mouth shut," one of the troopers near the young bot threatened.

With a glance at his friends and a sigh, he continued preparing for the Decepticons to leave with their stolen goods.

"I knew we couldn't trust him!" shouted Arcee as she sliced at a vehicon with her arm blades. "He's turned on us!"

The voiceless yellow mech beeped his protest.

"Arcee, we cannot jump to conclusions," Optimus stated firmly, hoping that there was a better answer than their newest member having sided with their enemies.

The Decepticons' ground bridge opened up and the troopers started to retreat into it taking whatever they could with them.

Smokescreen knew this was his last chance to try and say something. Stopping before the portal he raised his voice to call back, "I had no choice! They're going to kill her if I don't do what they want! " he was stopped from saying any more by a hit to the back that sent him sprawling forward and into the ground bridge. Falling through he landed heavily on the other side back on the Nemesis.

"Well Autobot, at least you managed to do something right," came Knock Out's mocking voice. "Take him back to his cell."

Smokescreen groaned as he started to get up only to be roughly hauled to his pedes and pushed down the corridor. _I really hope they believed me. If not we might be slagged..._

The three Autobots stepped out of the ground bridge and into their base. None of them were very happy, thoughts centred on their encounter with Smokescreen as much as the fact they failed to stop the Decepticons.

A girl with pink highlights in her dark hair looked up from her place on the couch. "So did you show them 'Cons who's boss?"

Optimus sighed showing his distress, while Arcee full out said her mind. "The fragging traitor! He's joined the 'Cons!"

Waving his arms in the air Bumblebee protested.

"Our scout is right, Arcee. What he said might be true," the Prime said hoping it was so.

Miko had left the couch to glare angrily up at them as they talked about something which she had not been told about. "Who joined the 'Cons? And what did they say?"

The heavyset green mech, named Bulkhead, limped in just in time to catch Miko's question and look over at his team mates.

"Smokescreen!" Arcee yelled in frustration.

"What? No way!"

Bulkhead added his disgust, smashing a fist into his other hand. "That little punk!"

Their leader placed a calming hand on the blue femme. "We cannot be sure of that at this moment. I do not believe Smokescreen would willingly aid the Decepticons." Looking over at the young human he continued, "Smokescreen mentioned someone else and having no choice in the matter as he helped them steal from the humans' facility; that her life would be in danger if he did not."

Ratchet spoke for the first time since the others had returned, "Optimus..."

The large bot turned to his old friend.

"If he has turned he knows the bases location and could lead the 'Cons right here but if he hasn't..."

Everyone fell silent as the revelation of what the medic said dawned upon them. There was the possibility that Smokescreen had become a traitor but why then would he not have led the Decepticons straight to them instead of attacking and helping steal from the humans. It would have easily taken them all by surprise. Then there was the second possibility. This one grieved them all. If he had not defected then he had been captured and worse was that he wasn't the only one in Decepticon hands...

A fierce determination had captured Arcee's face. "Optimus, if he's right, we need to get them back."

A two days went by and the Autobots had not found anything which could help them locate Smokescreen and the mysterious female he mentioned. The strain of the search was taking its toll and everyone was getting touchy because of it. They were all rather concerned about the others' fate.

Arcee and Jack rolled in after his shift at KO Burger. Slipping off the bike he walked over to where Ratchet was monitoring the screens, while Arcee transformed back into her robot mode once he was clear. "Any news?" The boy asked.

"Mmm, nothing yet," grumbled the bot. "Optimus should be returning from his search of sector J soon though."

"Slag," Arcee grumbled, "why haven't those 'Cons done something else by now! At least then we'd have a chance of finding them!"

"It has only been two days, Arcee. The Decepticons are unlikely to do much if they have what they need for the time being. We can only continue to be vigilant and hope that something comes up that may reveal their location," replied the medic not taking his optics from the screens.

At that moment Optimus called in, "Ratchet. Ground bridge here immediately. I have discovered a starship of unknown origins and although it appears abandoned there is evidence of a Decepticon presence."

"I'll be coming too," Arcee stated. "Can't be too careful if the 'Cons have already beaten us there."

"Mhmm," agreed Ratchet wordlessly as he opened the ground bridge at Optimus's coordinates.

"Hey what about me?" interrupted Jack.

"You can stay and man the ground bridge," the medic replied stepping away.

"Hmph," was the teenage boy's less than satisfied response. He wasn't too thrilled at being left behind alone. If only one of the others was there to at least keep him company but Miko and Rafael were both out with their 'Bots taking some down time.

"So stay here," commanded Ratchet.

"Fine, I'm no Miko. But it would be a shame not be able to see a spaceship," he tried a last ditch effort in persuading them into taking him along.

Arcee smirked. "Maybe you can check it out later. _After_, we know its not a trap crawling with 'Cons."

"Yes!" he whispered doing a fist pump.

"See ya, Jack," she said as she walked through the ground bridge with Ratchet.

On the other side they stepped out to a waiting Optimus Prime. Stretching out his hand, he pointed over to the wreckage that had once been a small spacecraft but was now far too damaged to even fly. "It lies over there. Be alert as we approach, there were signs of energon blasts in the forest, most likely caused by Decepticons."

Ratchet and Arcee nodded their understanding before the blue femme asked, "Do you think this might belong to Smokescreen's 'she'?"

"It could be. Cloaking on the ship could be the reason our sensors were not able to detect it when it first entered Earth's atmosphere," the medic responded.

Arcee grimaced, "And yet the 'Cons still found it first."

"Let us not worry about such at this time. Instead we shall investigate for any signs of life enemy or otherwise," Optimus broke off any further musings.

Drawing out their weapons the trio carefully moved closer, using what cover they could as they went. There were no signs of life as they approached, nothing indicating that their enemies were still around. However, the symbol on the side of the ship did not sit well with them. It was the sharp angled insignia of the Decepticons.

Approaching the spacecraft's entrance Arcee went in first, guns at the ready. Seeing that the coast was clear she nodded to the others and continued, the mechs right behind her. Searching the few rooms of the ship they found it to be abandoned, even the ship's storage was empty.

Since the place was clear, not a soul to be found, Ratchet went to access the ships data log in an effort to find any information about who it might have belonged to and where it might have come from. However his search was unfruitful yet surprising. "Optimus, the ship's data has been wiped clean. There's nothing left."

"Was this the occupant's doing or the Decepticons?" questioned the Prime.

"I can't be sure."

"What do you think they were hiding?" Arcee added.

Ratchet mused over the possibilities. "Could be anything. Highly sensitive information, scientific plans, battle strategies or one of numerous other things. Whatever it was, they didn't want anyone else to know about it." He opened up the hatch to investigate the computer circuits.

"Is there any way to find out anything about the ship, Ratchet?"

"Unlikely. Even the backup is erased. I could try taking it back to base but there is little chance of retrieving anything."

"What now?"wondered Arcee. "What about Smokescreen's femme friend then? Was she really someone he should want to help?"

Optimus Prime spoke calmly though, grieved with their lack of information, "For now we shall return to base and contact Agent Fowler to remove the spacecraft lest humans stumble upon it. As for your other questions... We cannot be certain. But I do not understand why the Decepticons would use one of their own to threaten our young ally."

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I have to admit I'm not thrilled with they way I've done this chapter but it does allow for some later foreshadowing. So yay, foreshadowing!  
Also just a small note, I have started a sketch of Violetwind and hope to eventually colour it so you can see what she looks like. Yay!


	3. Chapter 3

Love hearing what you think of my story! It makes me so happy to know that my writing is being enjoyed by others. :D  
And so we have the next chapter!

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Chapter 3

The Decepticon's prisoner was able to survive without the life support now, so placing her into cuffs they put her in with her fellow Autobot. The vehicons that shoved her though the door said nothing, sealing the door after her. The shove caused her to stumble and her fall to the floor from the rough treatment.

"Are you alright?" Smokescreen asked, going over and helping her to her pedes.

Looking up at the mech, she recognised him as the one who had been captured trying to help her. "I'm- I'm... fine, I think..." She felt a bit awkward after having been 'looked after' by Knock Out – who didn't really care about her – to now be asked how she actually felt. It was just a little strange and somewhat of a shock to the senses.

"You're lucky to be alive," he grinned. "The name's Smokescreen by the way. Just so we get our introductions outta the way. What's yours?"

"Um, it's Violetwind," she replied hesitantly. It was the first time she'd said the name out loud and it still didn't feel quite natural and yet somehow it fit.

Either not noticing or simply ignoring her hesitation, the white Autobot grinned and gestured with cuffed hands to the room where they were being kept. "Welcome to my abode. It's not got much but I hope the company will be cheery and with any luck your stay won't be long at all. I'm thinking about ordering some furniture in along with some decorations to brighten the place up."

Violetwind tried to smile, he was being so friendly after all but she could only think about how it was her fault he was in this mess. Her chest felt tight with guilt. Looking down at the floor she asked the question that was plaguing her thoughts. "Why did you try to help me? You didn't have to do that. Look where it's gotten you."

"You were in trouble. You clearly needed help. I wasn't about to let those 'Cons get away with ganging up on you like that! And I would do it all again to make sure a fellow 'Bot is safe. Besides the accommodation's only temporary, we'll get outta here. " replied Smokescreen, surprised that she would even think he wouldn't help her out.

She turned her gaze to meet his, still not sure what to think despite his lack of concern over being captured and held against his will. All she could see on his face was concern over her well-being, not the tiniest bit of fear. Violetwind herself wasn't taking the situation well but she was not sure of anything with her memory loss. "B-but..."

"Hey, it's ok, we're going to be alright," he tried to comfort her.

His concern only added to her emotional confusion, pushing her emotions over the edge. Leaning against the wall she slid to the floor and started to cry. Hiding her face with her hands she sobbed, her shoulders shaking violently.

Smokescreen was shocked at her sudden outburst, at first just staring at her, not sure what to do. After a moment he reacted, slowly crouching down to her level. "Um, Hey," he said softly, resting a hand on her shoulder, doing his best to comfort her "There's no need to worry. You'll be ok. You'll be alright. Just, um... let it all out..."

So that's what she did. The purple femme continued to bawl her optics out as Smokescreen sat beside her doing what he could to alleviate her stress.

It was about a day after Violetwind and Smokescreen were kept together as prisoners aboard the Nemesis that the pair were sitting around in silence. Violet had spent a lot of time resting still weak from her wounds but also tired from being emotional drained. The strange voice in her head had said a few things having - along with Smokescreen - helped pick her back after her tear-fest.

The door suddenly slid open revealing a pair of vehicons. "Hey, femme, Lord Megatron 'requests' your presence."

With worried optics she glanced at Smokescreen before getting up to go with them. The mech locked optics with her in that glance and knew he could not let Megatron possibly harm her again. Making up his mind to act he approached the vehicons. "She's not going anywhere with you!" he yelled as he swung his cuffed hands at one of their heads, knocking him out.

The remaining vehicon was startled by the attack but quickly recovered to bring out its weapons and fire upon the Autobot. Instinctively Smokescreen brought his arms up to shield himself. In this motion one of the trooper's shots hit his cuffs, breaking them. The restraint fell to the floor with a clutter and a grin from their previous captor.

Seeing the opportunity he gladly took it, firing back at the vehicon. After a few shots it was down, the silence in the moments afterward were as if the whole world was holding its breath.

"Come on," Smokescreen urged as he raced over to Violetwind destroying her cuffs with a quick blast from his gun, grabbing her arm.

The femme had been staring at the scene with fright, even now, still enveloped with fear making her movements sluggish as she followed the mech who was pulling her along.

Together they raced through the halls of the Nemesis, knowing it would not take long for the Decepticons to realise their prisoners had escaped. Smokescreen blasted down two more vehicon troopers coming to stand in front of a ship computer terminal. Pressing a few buttons on the keyboard he accessed the computer and a swirling green-blue vortex appeared beside them. "Let's go." He started towards the ground bridge before noticing that Violetwind was not following and turned back to look at her.

It was not hard to read the femme's face. She was staring at the unfamiliar glowing vortex with fear. The strange thing before her was so different to everything she had encountered so far and she was not ready for more surprises.

_Go through_, prompted the voice, which earned a shake of her head and a step back.

"I-I'm not going in that..." she told them.

"Violet, we don't have time to stand around here. Haven't you ever travelled by ground bridge before?"

She shook her head again.

Smokescreen shook his own head and sighed. Going over, he grabbed her arm. "It's not that bad. And it's the quickest way off the ship." They could hear more troopers heading their way and he was not about to let them be caught again. Giving her a firm yank, he got both of them into the ground bridge.

On the other side they stepped out into a canyon. "We don't have time to stop and sight see," stated Smokescreen, urging her to keep going.

Violetwind felt sick after experiencing that interesting way to travel. She just wanted to sit down for a while but managed to keep going at her companion's prompting, stumbling after him.

As they were hurrying away from the ground bridge he lifted a finger to his head and spoke, "Smokescreen to Autobot base. Smokescreen to Autobot base. Hey, is anybody there? I've got 'Cons on my tail and need you to get out here!"

The purple femme looked at him curiously, wondering exactly it was he was doing. Contacting someone or something she guessed

::Smokescreen, what the frag do you think you're doing?:: came a feminine voice, not sounding too pleased.

Violetwind looked over at him in surprise. She had not expected to be able to hear the other side of the conversation.

"Nice to hear from you too, Arcee," Smokescreen chuckled.

Blaster shots went past the pair alerting them to the Decepticons who had pursued them. Quickly they ducked behind some rocks for cover; the white and blue Autobot returning fire. Violetwind did her best to shoot back at the vehicons as well but unfortunately her shots were slow and not well aimed. Silently she cursed her inability to even hit one of them.

The voice sternly admonished her for beating herself up, _You're out of practice. Don't be so hard on yourself._

She sighed, _but would it really be too much to actually be of some use and hit just one?_

Finally Arcee responded to the mech, ::So what's with those 'Cons of yours? I thought you were making friends.::

"Well, it didn't go so well. Right now I'd say they're trying to shoot me. I don't think they like that I left the party early. Perhaps you guys could come over and straighten them out."

"And how do we know it's not a trap?"

::That's right,:: another voice came through the comm link.

::What if those 'Cons are making you say that just to get us there and turn us to scrap,:: grumbled yet another voice.

"Guys, it's not, trust me," returned Smokescreen glancing over at the femme with him.

Violetwind spoke for the first time since they had escaped the Decepticon warship, "Maybe, we should-" but she was cut off by her own cry of pain. One of the vehicons had come up behind them without being noticed, taking the opportunity to shoot her. She slumped to the ground holding the wound where she was leaking energon.

::What was that?:: called out one of the mech's on the comm link in concerned.

Her companion gave the vehicon a furious look before striking it down with a fist to the head. "Please, you have to come. The femme, she's been hurt."

A very deep voice replied, ::We'll arrive shortly, Smokescreen. Ratchet, prepare your medical kit. Bulkhead, stay and work the ground bridge.::

::Optimus, are you sure. It could still be some elaborate trap by the Decepticons,:: Arcee insisted, still doubtful about what was going on. ::I know we want to get them back but...::

::Be that as it may, we cannot risk the life of fellow Autobots. Even if it possibly is a trap as you suggest, we will be ready for them. Autobots, roll out!::

"Thank you, Sir," Smokescreen breathed a sigh of relief. "Help will be here soon," he murmured to Violetwind as she looked up at him.

Pain flooded her senses from the shot wound. She tried to get up but it was too hard. Smokescreen would have to hold off the 'Cons on his own. "I... I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault."

It was not long before the four Autobots arrived, leaping from the ground bridge with guns at the ready. Immediately they joined the battle, quickly shooting down the Decepticons. Those vehicons that remained alive fled the scene not willing to stick around for a battle they had little chance of winning.

Their enemies having left the Autobots regrouped around the injured femme. Violetwind scrambling back just a little out of fear. She did not know these robots and they were all so big as they surrounded her. Though they did not look like the others from before, they were still strangers and outnumbered her and Smokescreen.

An orange and white one approached first looking down at the blaster wound as it leaked energon, not taking any notice of her uncomfortable reaction to being scrutinised. "We need to get you back to base. Somebody help her to her pedes."

A yellow mech started towards her to help her up when in fear her leg shot out and kicked him in the shin, causing the bot to step back making a few beeping whines in pain. Violetwind only scrambled back a little more and bit her lip, sorry for having hurt him. She hadn't really meant to do that.

Folding her arms the blue femme commented, "Got a bit of spunk there."

Smokescreen rested a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry you can trust them. This is Ratchet, Bumblebee, Arcee and our leader Optimus Prime. They're here to help."

Slowly she nodded, this time allowing the Bumblebee and Smokescreen to help her up.

Ratchet glanced over at Optimus, the two old friends sharing a brief look which went unnoticed by the others before he commed back to base, "Bulkhead, open the ground bridge."

Almost immediately the swirling vortex appeared beside them. Ratchet headed through first followed closely by the two mechs and Violetwind as they helped her along. Arcee was next disappearing into the ground bridge.

Optimus was left alone for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face as he stared after the Autobots. The purple femme looked awfully familiar. She was not one he thought he would see again for some time, let alone on some place like Earth. He stepped into the vortex, wondering what she was doing there.

Back at the Autobot base the rest of them stepped through, Ratchet quickly directing the two bots to bring Violetwind to the medical bay. While the bridge closed as Optimus finally walked through.

Miko rushed up as soon as she saw the newcomer. "Awesome a new 'Bot! Those 'Cons really better be scared now that we've got another one for Team Prime!"

The purple femme regarded the human curiously but did not reply, not even getting the chance as the girl kept talking hardly pausing for a breath.

"How did you get to Earth? Was it your spaceship they found crashed? That thing had some landing! Did you steal it from the 'Cons? What was it like being captured on the warship? What-"

She was cut off by the irritable medic, "Miko! I have things to do! Stop pestering my patient!"

"Well fine, Mr. Grumpybot. C'mon, Bulk, let's go play some music." The girl stalked off followed by her large lumbering green friend.

"The rest of you can get going too," Ratchet snapped.

Optiums calmly addressed the medic, "Let us know if you require anything, old friend."

Ratchet nodded in reply. "And Smokescreen, don't go far. You'll be getting a check-up after I'm done here."

The bots and humans started to leave, allowing Violetwinds's fear of the crowd to ebb a little but she quickly made a squeak as Smokescreen started to leave. He was the only one there she knew, the only one she knew she could trust after all he had done. "Smokescreen..." she called quietly, too weak for anything louder than a whisper.

At the sound of his name, the mech turned to her, "Just let the doc take care of you. Like I said, you can trust them."

Wanting to believe him she relaxed back onto the medical bay berth. The events of the past few days overcame her and she fell into recharge before Smokescreen even had time to leave the room.

Out in the main room Autobots and humans alike all looked over at the white mech. Seeing that all eyes and optics were on him, Smokescreen put on a smile. "So... You've all been having fun while I've been away?" He tried to laugh but it was forced and sounded weak even to him.

Arcee was the first to speak, her tone clipped as she walked up to him fist raised, "Just what do you think you were doing, Smokescreen!"

"Woah, don't go all crazy on me!" He held his arms up to shield himself from the potential attack.

She glared at him but backed off, "Is she the reason why you helping the 'Cons? Who is she anyway?"

"She is and I don't really know who she is, just that her name is Violetwind. All I know is that the 'Cons were after her when I came by on patrol."

"Confronting the enemy alone was not a wise decision, Smokescreen," Optimus Prime addresses the young mech.

Hanging his head in shame he replied, "I know, Optimus, sir." He lifted his head to look up at his commander. "But she was being hammered by the 'Cons, even Megatron was there. I couldn't leave her! Someone needed to teach those 'Cons a lesson!"

Beeps came from the yellow bot as he added his input.

"I tried. Communications were down. The 'Cons must have been jamming the signal. So I didn't have much of a choice..." the rookie muttered.

Jack spoke up asking, "So what happened to you guys?"

Smokescreen recounted the tale of how he went to investigate a commotion and spotted the Decepticons going after Violetwind. He had tried to contact base but was unable get through and so took things into his own hands. Storming into the cave he tore through the troopers, coming across Megatron before they got the best of him when the Decepticon leader downed the femme and took them both captive. He explained how Knock Out threatened to offline her if he did not go on that raid with them. After that though they didn't desire his help again and later brought Violet to his cell, though she was still weak. He told of how he led their escape, bravely fighting back the Decepticons and getting them off the ship, before contacting the base.

"And there you have it," Smokescreen grinned proudly finishing his story.

Arcee glanced over at the silent Optimus Prime. He was carrying an expression she could not read. "Optimus, is something wrong?"

He was quiet a moment before looking over the team of Autobots in front of him as he held their attention. "I am merely pondering the reason for Violetwind's arrival on this planet."

"Do you know of her, Optimus?" asked the young human Rafael.

The leader nodded. "There was a time on Cybertron when we had met."

Everyone looked at the Prime with surprise and confusion.

"Optimus?!"

* * *

I hope you shall not be too harmed by this little cliffhanger of which I leave you. May you survive the week you have to wait. :D


	4. Chapter 4

And so we have it you'll all get to find out a little more about our main character.  
I have to say, I was a little undecided about this chapter and whether or not to go with an actual flashback or as what I ended up doing, having Optimus tell it. Ended up doing it this way, not wishing to go too much into detail as a flashback would need. Maybe that's a story for another time ;)

* * *

Chapter 4

Optimus Prime looked down at the Autobots and humans staring up at him expectantly. He knew they all desired information about his last declaration, though none seemed to be willing to speak the question on everyone's minds; except one.

"You gonna dish on what you know and how you met her?" asked a hyped Miko.

The red and blue Autobot leader knew he would not be able to go without explaining it to them and so relented. "If you are willing to listen, I shall recount to you our past, starting off with what she told me of her own past.

"Before the war Violetwind was a scientist back in Crystal city. Most of her time was spend conducting unprofitable, repetitive experiments, things that served no true purpose. She found these studies tedious and of no value, desiring more from her work. Something that she favoured, when ever she could get it, were studies on the few organic lifeforms left on Cybertron after the collapse of the space bridges. These were on those that were not sentient, like plants and the things she most enjoyed when she had access to them, learning all she could about how they lived and were different to us in many ways. Though she enjoyed her plants, there were other aspects of organic beings that fascinated her. The brain waves of these seemingly simple organic creatures captured her attention."

"Boring! When do we get to the good stuff," Miko interrupted.

"Miko!" snapped Jack, willing her to be quiet.

"Go on, Optimus," encouraged Rafael, ignoring his friend's rudeness.

Taking the floor once more he continued, though doing his best to go on with his narrative in a way that would leave out the more unimportant details. "When the stirrings of unrest about Cyberton's caste system flooded through the populous, Violetwind got swept up along with it. Like most, she was caught up in the smooth words of the gladiator calling out for change."

The Prime paused for a moment as he reflected the time of which he spoke, when he was like so many others wanting change in the High Council and their inadequate caste system, believing as the people did in the outspoken gladiator. One whom he had once thought of as a brother...

"As you know, the gladiator, Megatronus, gathered many to his side with his promise of bringing equality to the masses."

"Megatron..." Jack muttered, recalling what they had been already been told of Cybertron's past.

Optimus nodded. "Violetwind explained to me how his words had instilled hope in her about the freedom he promised, like he did to so many others. When the war began she joined with the Decepticons."

"What?! You mean she's a 'Con and we let her in here!" Miko burst out, not happy with the news.

"Hey, she's no 'Con! I'd swear my spark on that!" Smokescreen glared at the human girl, sticking up for the purple femme he had rescued.

"Yeah, well that's probably just cause you're just a... a lovesick puppy! Taken in by her sweet act!" Miko yelled at him.

"Why you!-"

Breaking up the fight Optimus, rested a hand on Smokescreen, his deep commanding voice cutting in, "Stop. There will be no more slandering of anyone." He gave each of them a hard look.

"Yes, sir..."

"Yes, Optimus..."

"Good, now before you judge any further, may I finish the story you wanted to hear?"

Both nodded silently.

"As I was saying, Violetwind first joined up with the Decepticons. There she served as a weapon scientist under Shockwave, Megatron's head scientist. She served with vigour, truly believing she was helping fight for a better Cybertron but as a scientist she was not involved in any of the direct fighting going on around the planet. In fact she was not well aware of the true conditions of the war. Megatron thought it best none of his scientists except Shockwave know the truth. Even then I do wonder how much he actually knew of all his head scientist's endeavours. Shockwave had little ethics or morality, although, in that regard perhaps, Megatron was not so different.

"Violetwind spoke of Shockwave's increasingly sadistic experiments. Some of the things she witnessed she could not fully tell me about as they were too horrible for her to re-live. Eventually she learnt of Megatron's true nature and she made the decision to leave the Decepticon cause. This she accomplished with no ease. With great bravery she escaped from the secret laboratories hidden deep within Decepticon territory, having to fight her way out and not before she had left them a parting gift. One I am sure Shockwave did not appreciate, as because of it he lost half of his laboratory. From then on she travelled alone and in secret as she made her way to Iacon, to the Autobots, to hope.

"Though when she did enter Autobot territory, it did not get much easier for our femme. Since she was carrying Decepticon markings she was treated as a hostile. It was war and at the time we could not risk even one Decepticon getting through. Energon supplies were dwindling and unfortunately she had chosen to try and enter close to one of the few energon springs we still held.

"The fight was brief, she did not fire back against the Autobots stationed there, wishing to surrender herself to them. Naturally they were wary and did not trust her. Violetwind was adamant though and one Autobot, named Jazz, who was my old friend, wished to trust her, just a little after her explanation of what she was doing there and how she wished to defect. He was willing to believe that she should be given a chance. The others were not as convinced and wanted to bring her back as a prisoner, yet others disagreed rallying to terminate her right there and then and be done with it, having already judged her.

"I clearly remember the time when Jazz called in about the dilemma. Through the commlink I could easily hear her in the background. She was giving the soldiers a good tongue lashing about the ideals the Autobots proclaimed to have and how not giving her a chance meant they were being just like the very Decepticons they were fighting.

"I will never forget what Jazz said to me next with his smooth accent, which I cannot replicate, 'OP she's a real live one. She sure seems to be giving them mechs all spark attacks just from her fierceness. I think we could use her if she's genuine. She could win the war on her own.'

"Of course, I was not confident in bringing someone like her into our ranks but I could see no real reason why she should not be given a chance and allowed Jazz to bring her to our capital. Once she arrived I allowed her to be brought to me, so I could meet this femme who was causing so much trouble for my soldiers. Due to the others distrust of her she was brought in in cuffs something which I could tell very much displeased her. Even so she strode forward with confidence, Jazz walking beside her. At the door were some of the Autobot soldiers, all curious to know what was to become of her, peaking in and speaking with hushed tones. Wishing for some privacy I dismissed them with a 'back to your duties' command and a hard glare, ordering the door to be closed. Jazz stayed behind, though, leaning casually against a wall.

"Before me stood Violetwind, determination set on her face. Before I could finish collecting my thoughts to speak, she began first, 'Optimus Prime,' she declared boldly, 'So I have made it to the presence of the famous Prime... Are you like your men, judging me for the symbol that resides on my armour? I am not proud of some of my actions during this war as I realised the truth. But I am here now wishing to make a change. Though you may not be the side which appears to be winning, _yours_, is the one I want to fight for, Optimus Prime. I believe yours is the one who truly wants freedom. I no longer believe in Megatron and his ability to bring about the change with need. His "freedom through tyranny," is not something I wish to be a part of. I want to become one of your Autobots. If you cannot permit me to join your ranks than I request that you keep me prisoner. I can only imagine I'm wanted dead by the 'Cons after what I've done. Thought, whatever you decide to do with me, I'm willing to share whatever knowledge about the Decepticons I have.'

"After she was done, the silence grew to be like a heavy weight, pressing around the three of us. Not one of us moved a servo. Finally Jazz spoke, moving up to stand beside Violetwind as he did so, 'I don't know about you but she's got my vote.' I admit it brought a smile to my face and I agreed with him. Wwe removed her restraint and accepted her to our side, assigning her a spot under Jazz with his squad.

"Naturally some of my council did not approve but unlike them, I had seen the determination in her and was not about to deny her a chance to fix what she believed she needed set right. So from then on Violetwind trained under Jazz, which was less practice and more on the job training as they fought Decepticons. There was not much time to set aside for anything other than fighting, during the war. We were outnumbered and out gunned meaning nobody had the time to even get much rest. It was a good thing she was a fast learner, picking up fighting techniques of those she fought alongside and sometimes even those she fought against. Unfortunately in the optics of some she would remain a Decepticon..."

"You mean those 'Bots still didn't trust her after all she went through?! Even as she fought with them!" cried out Miko.

"You've changed your tune," commented Jack, looking over at the girl with a raised eyebrow.

"She's got spirit, I like her," retorted the younger teenager.

Optimus looked down at the young human who seemed to have reversed her opinion of their newcomer. "Yes, Miko. Most did not trust her story. If they could not trust her story, then in their optics she must not be be genuine. They considered her to be a spy and as such alienated her."

"Well that's not fair!" whined the girl.

"You are correct. It is not, but it was how it was. It would not have been the first time the Decepticons had tried to sneak spies into our ranks, although they did not usually do so as she did, still carrying their insignias and declaring a change of allegiance." Optimus replied before continuing his story. "It was actually a long while since the day I first met her that our paths crossed again. Jazz's team had been on a particularly difficult mission scouting one of the energon springs we were hoping to reclaim. When they returned they were badly beaten up. Decepticons had spotted them and quickly overwhelmed the small group. Upon their return and once they had received medical treatment from our own Ratchet, Jazz came to report to me. With him he brought Violetwind, proclaiming how vital she had been. He earnestly praised her quick thinking which saved the entire team. I could see that she was embarrassed by the praise, trying to say that it was what anyone else would have done had they been there. Even so Jazz still proudly boasted of how she had taken on the Decepticon warriors mostly on her own after the others were beaten down and forced to cover, with hardly any chance to retaliate. Violetwind had snuck around and taken them on in hand to hand combat, giving enough of a distraction for the rest of her team to break cover and get the better of the rest of the Decepticons there.

"The femme tried to brush it off as something that anyone else would have done in her position. Still I commended her on her bravery and helping bring those Autobots back alive, which was always a victory for us. I also personally thanked her for helping bring back my old friend. Jazz was especially glad for this too.

"Even after this, however, Violetwind did not receive any gratitude or acceptance from other Autobots. They were still convinced she was untrustworthy, a spy for the Decepticons, perhaps even the very reason that group were spotted. This served to destroy her confidence in herself, as well as in what she was fighting for. I came across her again one day as she was relieving some stress with the walls, turns out the walls were winning.

"I went over to speak with her but she tried to hide what was troubling her. Though it did not do her any good and I saw through it. Eventually I coaxed her into confiding in me. I guess I should have know just how much the other Autobots distrust of her was upsetting her. 'What do I have to do to earn their respect!' I remember her shouting in frustration. Speaking with her I came up with a solution. Though it would not change others opinions of her it would give her a better group to fight in. One where they would be less likely to judge.

"Before I was able to do that however, I needed to make sure that it would work and so called in another friend of mine, Elita One. She was one of my commanding officers, leading a team of female Autobots. Elita One was surprised when I sent word for her to come and see me..."

Optimus Prime paused, momentarily lost in his thoughts of the past. Mentioning her name had caused a pain in his spark, a waterfall of emotions returning to the surface. It has been so long...

"Optimus?" Rafael broke in after a minute of silence, concerned about the leader.

"Are you all right there?" asked Jack.

Blinking a few times Optimus came back to reality. "Yes. Yes, I am fine. I apologise for that. Let me continue...

"Elita One arrived and immediately came to see me. After a brief reunion I explained the situation to her. At first she was hesitant but agreed to meet Violetwind before she decided. There was nothing to be worried about, the two hit it off as soon as they were finished their introductions, chatting away like old friends. It pleased me to see her fitting in and it was decided that Violetwind would join Elita One's squad. When the pair left it was the last time I saw the her. From then on she fought with those she could trust and that trusted her.

"I had not heard from her personally again after that, only hearing from Elita One before our Exodus from Cybertron and Violetwind had adjusted well to her new team. They were to head off world together, finding somewhere to settle until we could return. I had not heard from them since leaving Cybertron, nor was I aware of their location. As such I do not know why she may have arrived on this planet alone."

The Prime hoped that when she awoke, the newcomer might be able to supply them with some answers...

* * *

I hope you liked this chapter. I took a lot of inspiration from the Transformers: Exodus book and, the Transformers War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron games (you sick sick robot Shockwave).


	5. Chapter 5

Again thanks to those who have shown interest in my story! I'm already having so much fun writing it and it just multiplies my joy to know that others are liking it too. :D  
So here's the next chapter!

* * *

Chapter 5

Everyone was quiet after Optimus had finished his retelling of the past, all that he had said slowly sinking in.

Eventually Miko spoke up breaking the silence, "I say we've got ourselves a great new member for Team Prime. Once Ratchet has her back on her feet, those 'Cons better watch out!"

Bulkhead chuckled, "Well if Miko thinks so then I agree."

The voiceless scout beeped and whirred, '

"Me too Bee, if she's been fighting with the Autobots this long I don't see why we can't trust her," added Rafael.

"I can see why Megatron might have wanted her now," mused the two wheeler. "Perhaps a little revenge and a whole lot of use in the weapons department. Think she helped the 'Cons any?"

Smokescreen groaned softly, "She may have done... She mentioned that they used a cortical psychic patch on her. Imagine having Megatron in your head like that. Ugh..."

Bumblebee made a few angry noises waving his hands in the direction of the rookie, mentioning the time the Decepticon leader had inhabited his own mind for a time.

The younger bot lifted his hands in defence, "Woah, sorry didn't know! That must have been crazy."

The bot made a few more annoyed whirs and clicks.

"It's ok, Bee, you weren't to know Megatron would follow you back into your own head and you did get the antidote to save Optimus," Raf reassured the bot, calming his partner down.

"Our scout was invaluable in my recovery." Optimus agreed. His thoughts turned back to his unfinished tasks, including decoding the remaining Iacon database coordinates. With a nod to the group he bid them farewell for the time being, getting back to the computer.

The rest of them soon followed, falling away to their own tasks and talks. While the others did that Smokescreen headed back to the medical bay for Ratchet to check over him, not wishing for the doctor to be even more irritable with him than usual.

It was some time later when Violetwind awoke. Ratchet had long since finished fixing her up and left her to continue her recharge. In that time he had checked over Smokescreen, and found him in no need of repairs. The medic had then left him in charge of waiting for the femme to wake up, saying that a familiar face would be good for her.

"How're you feeling?" he greeted her warmly.

Looking about the unfamiliar surroundings she forgot about his question, asking one of her own, "Where am I?"

"You're safe in the Autobot's base, among friends. You've been patched up too, so the doc said to take it easy," the rookie answered.

The femme sighed and relaxed, closing her optics, so glad most of the pain was gone. Knock Out had not treated her this well but she believed it was more a lack of interest in her well-being rather than a lack of proper knowledge. Suddenly her optics burst to life again as a thought struck her. "Is it ok me being here? I-I don't want to be a burden on those I don't even know..."

Smokescreen snorted. "Of course not!" he reassured her. "Oh hey, the boss bot wanted to talk to you once you woke up. Think you're up to speaking with him?"

The thought of speaking with the leader actually frightened her but she slowly nodded. Obviously she could not really turn down the person in charge, not after they had helped her out.

"Great," he turned on his comm link, "Optimus, sir, she's awake now."

The reply came almost immediately, "I will be their momentarily, Smokescreen" before clicking off.

"Prime told us he met you back on Cybertron," Smokescreen tried to make a bit of conversation before Optimus arrived.

"I did?" she uttered confused.

The white mech stared back at her in his own confusion. "Don't you remember?"

The purple femme shook her head. Not knowing her past was being quite the bother and in a few moments could turn out to be more than a little embarrassing.

"But-?" he started before he was interrupted by Optimus Prime's arrival.

The tall mech nodded in greeting to both of them before walking over to Violetwind's berth. She tried to sit up and look more presentable to him. "No, don't strain yourself." His voice was so deep and commanding she felt she had no choice but to obey. So laying back down she looked up at him, worry clearly showing in her optics. He was the leader here, and that made her nervous, not sure why he would want to talk with her. Though Smokescreen had said that she used to know him, perhaps he wanted to talk about old times. This only made her more nervous because she did not remember anything before a few days ago.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Um, I'm feeling much better, thank you."

"Ratchet tells me it will not be long before you are moving around again," Optimus commented.

"Ratchet?" she repeated not recalling the name.

"You know, the doc that helped fix you up," responded Smokescreen, "I introduced you to him earlier, after they fought off the 'Cons."

"Oh, yes, him..."

Optimus looked thoughtful. He knew for a fact that Violetwind had met Ratchet before, along with himself. It did not make sense why she would not remember him now.

"Smokescreen, would you please allow us to talk privately," the leader politely asked the young soldier to leave.

"Yes, Optimus," standing he gave nod before waving to the femme, "I'll come see you again later. Can't have our newest member getting lonely!"

Waving goodbye she squirmed a little, not sure what to think now that she and Optimus were alone. Her optics glanced at him briefly before looking away, focusing on the pattern on the wall.

"Violetwind," his voice was calm and slow, "Why did you come to Earth?"

She did not know what to say, "I- I don't, um, really know... sir..."

A moment of silence passed as Optimus considered his next step. Once he made a decision he spoke again, "Do you remember me?"

"O-only from e-earlier today. You were with those who came to help me and Smokescreen." Glancing up at him nervously she asked, "Did I know you before then?"

He nodded before asking another question, "What is it you do remember?"

"Um, not much actually..."

Violetwind slowly recounted what had happened since she awoke in the woods: the fateful incident and the subsequent capture by Megatron, his use of the cortical psychic patch and finally her and Smokescreen's escape from the Decepticons. She explained that she had actually be a little afraid to admit her memory loss to anyone along with the voice in her head that had been talking to her and so had avoided brining up the subject with Smokescreen during their capture.

Optimus listened quietly taking it all in, his processor going over the information. When she was done he stood, "Thank you for sharing that information with me." A small smile lifted his face, yet his optics remained thoughtful with a hint of sadness. "We shall see that a room is set up for you that you may use once you are well enough to leave the medical bay."

"Thank you, Optimus Prime, Sir."

He walked out of the medical bay, leaving the femme wringing her fingers, wondering what they were going to do with her. She had determined that they were in a war and a bot who could not even remember how to defend herself would not be of much use to them.

_Optimus..._

"So we do know him? You going to tell me anything?" she muttered quietly to herself.

_Just that he's a good leader. You can trust him._

The femme did not respond to her voice at first. Blue optics glanced back at where she had last seen the tall mech thinking over what little she knew of him. She felt a little bit of comfort, believing the voice. "Yeah... he seems like a good person..."

Upon leaving the medical bay Optimus Prime returned to the main hub of the base, where most of the Autobots were situated.

Seeing the leader, Miko quickly jumped up and went over to him, "So can we meet the new bot now?"

"I think it would be wise to wait." Moving off before the girl had a chance to respond, he called over to the medic, "Ratchet, I need a word with you."

"Of course, Optimus," he replied.

The two of them walked off into the halls, leaving the humans and Autobots wonder what was going on.

"What was that about?" asked Jack, his gaze staring after the retreating figures.

Arcee merely shrugged, not knowing either.

Bulkhead wondered out loud, "Think it has anything to do with the new femme?"

"I saw we go say hi!"

"Miko! Didn't you hear Optimus?" chided Jack.

She whined, "Yeah but it can't hurt to go see her right? Come on!" Then before anyone could stop her, the girl was running towards the medical bay, determined to properly meet the new Autobot. The desire to meet this Violetwind was very much driven by her thirst for stories about battles and after what Optimus had told them, the femme should have some great ones.

When she turned the corner she saw that someone had beaten her to the punch, or rather two someone's. "Hey," she called out earning their attention.

Bumblebee was sitting beside Violetwind, with Rafael on his upturned palm.

"Oh hey, Miko," greeted the boy.

The yellow Autobot beeped a greeting as well.

Turning back to the wounded bot, Rafael introduced her to the girl. "Violet, this is Miko. We were just telling you about her."

"Um, well, hello there Miko," she spoke, waving shyly at their visitor.

Walking over, she climbed onto the berth. "All good stuff I hope."

The purple femme nodded quickly, not willing to admit that perhaps not all of it was that good. From what Raf had told her, Miko was constantly getting into trouble and dragging the other human children into it.

Having followed the headstrong girl, Jack, Arcee and Bulkhead came along as well. Looks of surprise lit up all their faces as they saw Bumblebee and Raf already situated there.

Giving a defeated sigh, the older boy gave a shrug and climbed up onto the berth with Miko. Looking over the purple femme, he asked, "I guess your feeling better?"

"I am, thank you. It's really nice not to be anchored to the table this time too," she replied earning grins from everyone around her.

Raf went on to point out each of the newcomers. "So that's Jack and Arcee and Bulkhead."

"Um, hey," she muttered giving them a wave.

They slipped into an easy conversation. The Autobots shared a few tales and some laughs as they recalled the funny moments of life.

Miko had just finished telling them about something that happened to her at school earning a round of laughter when Ratchet walked in.

He spluttered a few times in shock at seeing them all there before recovering to yell at them. "What are you doing in here?! Out! All of you! Out!" Shooing them out he yelled some more, "My patient needs her rest!"

Quickly everyone scurried out, not wishing to mess with the grumpy medic.

Miko called back before she left, "We'll bust you out real soon!"

The others called out goodbyes as well and hopes for her to get well soon.

"Doesn't anyone know how to follow orders," the medic grumbled as the sounds of them leaving faded.

With a look of disappointment after her visitors, Violetwind, silently wished they did not have to leave. They were having such a good time. Now alone with Ratchet, she was not feeling so comfortable and it certainly was not as fun.

Walking over to her side, he continued to grumble under his breath, the femme only able to catch a single word, "Insubordinates..."

Finally he turned his full attention to his patient, calming himself down and doing his best to sound a little more amicable. "Optimus, told me you've got some memory trouble."

"Mhmm," she nodded.

"I'm just going to give you a quick head scan. Nothing invasive like those Decepticons though," he said, bringing a cable to her head and anchoring it in place before going back to his screens.

"I-I guess he told you what happened then? And about that, um... the voice I've been hearing?" she asked hesitantly.

"Mmm, yes, yes..." he muttered, letting a moment of silence pass before he continued, "Well good news, I believe you memories are intact but..."

"But?" she prompted, not sure if she really wanted to know what was wrong.

"You seem to have an internal memory block, which is stopping you from freely accessing your past memories. It- hmm... I wonder..."

Violetwind looked curiously over at the mech. The silence grew as the seconds ticked by and he did not respond, leaving her to wonder about what he had started to say. Unable take the nerves building up in her any longer she broke the silence, "Um, what is it?"

Ratchet turned to her, "I think that perhaps that voice might have something to do with your block. Maybe part of your past personality coming through the block. But I don't really know. Then again it might but it might not actually have anything to do with your inability to access your past memories."

She took a few seconds to let it sink in, processing what he had just told her. "Is there anything you can do?" the femme looked up at him expectantly.

"I do not believe so. It is too integrated into your processor, and would be dangerous to try anything. We can only hope that you will regain access to your memories with time..."

With a frown, she sighed, leaning back and closing her optics. Things were not looking good. Her memories were locked away, possibly having something to do with the very voice that liked to show up randomly. That was just great...

Looking back over at Ratchet, she asked, "What could have caused it?"

"Well, I've never encountered anything for this sort before. Memory loss instances usually occur from head trauma causing physical damage, or through some terrible experience that they block out completely but nothing quite like what you have," the medic told her, rather perplexed by her condition. He turned back to his computer screens.

_Would you really want to get rid of me?_ The voice broke in jokingly.

_I would – surely it would be better to have my memories than you._

_I think I'm offended,_ it scoffed teasingly before trying to comfort her, _With time you will remember, just not today but someday._

_Does that mean you know?! You are from my memories?! Are you part of what's blocking them?! Why would you do that? _

It did not reply.

Her optics narrowed. "Mmph, you're so annoying..." she mumbled quietly.

Ratchet turned his head, "Did you say something?"

"Um, no..."

The mech turned back to his work shaking his head, wondering about the sanity of their new addition.

* * *

Till next time guys! Till all are one.


	6. Chapter 6

And we get our first episode tie in chapter! Obviously I don't own that stuff. :(  
Hope you enjoy this one!

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Chapter 6

It was not until the next day that the medical bay was filled once again with visitors to see the latest Autobot arrival to Earth. Everyone had been informed of Violetwind's memory loss and instructed not to ask questions regarding her past so as to not distress her. With this in mind, Miko, Jack, Raf and their Autobot partners were recounting tales of some of their missions on Earth.

"So there I was with two bots who were stuck to each other and I couldn't even use my phone to take a picture of it!" Miko yelled in exasperation

"I'm glad you didn't. I don't need any more reminders about when I was the eyes on Bulkhead's back," Arcee sent the girl an unamused glare, her arms folded.

The yellow scout whirred and beeped, something akin to a chuckle, Raf joining in as well. "I agree Bee, it would have been pretty funny."

Nods and chuckles went around as they pictured Arcee dangling from Bulkhead's back.

"Only cause it wasn't you anchored to somebody," snapped the blue femme, light-heartedly.

"Hey, we beat the 'Cons and got the polarising gauntlet," interrupted the green mech, "so it turned out alright in the end. Even if it was a bit 'sticky,' during it." He chuckled lightly.

Arcee shot him a slight glare while the rest of them laughed.

A voice interrupted the group's fun. "You guys having a party without me? I thought you knew that a party doesn't really start until I arrive!" It was Smokescreen, grinning away as he entered.

"Smokey!" Miko greeted.

"Hey, Smokescreen. I guess we were just keeping the place warm for you then," Jack spoke to the newcomer, the twinkle of a smirk in his eyes.

"Come on and join us, Smoke," welcomed the girl.

The mech grinned, "Don't mind if I do." Looking over at Violetwind he asked, "How're you doing, Violet?"

"I'm feeling much better, thanks," she replied. Glancing around at her the Autobots and humans she smiled, "The surroundings are much nicer here. Company is much more friendly too."

The voiceless scout chirped happily at the compliment, "Good to know we aren't like the 'Con's."

"Yeah, I like to think I'm good to look at too," jested the cocky rookie.

While everyone else chuckled, Arcee started to chide the mech, "Smokescreen-"

He broke her off, "When you've got it you've got it."

The blue femme groaned, but Violetwind was giggling, finding the bots interactions amusing.

_I wish everyone was as welcoming as these guys._

_Have we come across those that weren't?_ Violetwind questioned her inner voice.

_Yeah._

_Was it bad?_

_It could've been worse but we made it through..._

Before there was any time to continue with their antics (or Violetwind her inner conversation) they were interrupted by Optimus Prime. "Autobots, I require you to divide into teams."

"I'm team one! Whose with me?" Smokescreen jumped in quickly. Even after rescuing Violetwind he was still eager to prove his worth to the team.

"I'll go," Arcee spoke up next, already heading out to the ground bridge.

"Bye everyone," Smokescreen waved, "I'll be back before you know it with the relic." Catching up to the two wheeler he stayed behind a little, allowing her to go in first. "After you, sir. Err, ma'am?"

The femme just groaned lightly with a roll of her optics as they stepped into the vortex.

The remaining Autobots went back to chatting. Bumblebee chattered away in trills and whirs with Raf translating for Jack and Miko, and also Violetwind. She was a little slow to translate what he was saying in her head but was quickly learning. While they talked on, the purple femme wondered what they were going after. There was something going on she did not know about. Something that seemed to hold particular importance for their group.

...

When the two Autobots rolled out of the ground bridge they were on high alert, drawing out their weapons, holding their guns charged and at the ready.

Looking about Smokescreen checked for the presence of Decepticons but there was nothing to indicate they were there. "First ones here."

"And no locater beacon, which means the relic's still buried." Arcee looked down at the scanner in her hand, consulting the screen, "Right about... there," she nodded in the direction of some ancient pyramids.

Together they headed towards it, keeping alert and walking in silence. That was until the mech did the inevitable and broke it, asking casually "So what do you think of the new femme?"

"She'll be a great help to us if she can fight like Prime said she used to," replied Arcee. She turned to give him a hard look, "But you know you acted recklessly trying to rescue her on your own. You could have gotten yourself killed and we would have had no idea of her existence on Earth. Team Prime can't afford any casualties. I've already lost two seasoned partners. I don't need to add a rookie on my scorecard."

"Yeah. I know that," he lamented as they walked. Putting a hand to his chest he promised, "And not gonna happen. Elite guardsman's honour." A short moment passed before realisation hit the mech about her last words. "Wait, you lost two partners?"

The blue femme smirked, wondering if this made him worried at all but she did not look back to check his face.

They entered the human ruins, the tunnel just too small for Smokescreen to stand up in. He had to bend forward, ducking his head so it did not scrape on the roof. "Nice of the humans to pile all of these rocks on top of our relic, huh?" he joked dryly, his voice the only thing in the quiet other than their footsteps.

Walking along, Arcee guided them closer to the Omega Key with the scanner. Before long they came across some pictures etched in the stone wall; it was of some humans and an object they clearly revered. They had found their ancient cybertronian artefact.

"Well, that spells things out doesn't it?" Smokescreen grinned.

The femme did not respond to him, instead nodding to the large stone. "Come on, help me move this."

Working together they heaved out the stone to find that which they were searching for; the first of the Omega Keys. The pair grinned at one another. Team Prime was on its way to restoring Cybertron. Once they had all four, their home planet would be able to support life again.

Smokescreen picked it up and they started making their way back out. "The ancient humans must have thought that the Omega Key was a gift from the gods," he smiled in amusement.

Nodding with a wry grin, the blue femme added, "And in a sense, they weren't wrong."

Stepping out of the ruins they were ready to bridge back to base when they were confronted with an unexpected sight in the waning light. Waiting for them was the Decepticon leader.

"The relic. Now," demanded Megatron.

The rookie took a stance that was ready for battle. "Two against one. We can take him," the mech said confidently.

Grinning maliciously the Decepticon drew a long purple glowing sword from his back. The two Autobots looked upon it, their optics wide with both awe and horror. I glowed like it was made of dark energon.

"Ratchet! Ground bridge, now!" Arcee yelled into her comm link, realising the power in Megatron's new weapon.

Showing off said power, the silver mech swung the blade through the air releasing a purple wave of energy which hit both the bots. Knocked back and tumbling through the air, the Omega Key flew from Smokescreen's grasp.

Rolling to a stop, he groaned. Shaking his head he quickly got to his pedes. Once upright he drew his weapons, firing upon their enemy as he ran towards the Decepticon.

Arcee was a little slower to recover from the hit but she too quickly sat up adding her shots at Megatron.

None of their blasts actually reached him though; each one deflected with a single flick of his new blade. Megatron grinned; he liked his new weapon. The white mech was approaching fast but he was not worried. Slicing through the air the Decepticon sent another energy wave at Smokescreen before the mech got too close. Unable to avoid it, the Autobot was sent flying.

Arcee could only watch in shock as he slammed into the side of a pyramid, a cloud of dust created upon his impact. "Smokescreen!" she shouted her optics filled with disbelief. The tightness she felt in her chest was about ready to consume her. She was unable to fully comprehend that she had just witnessed the death of the rookie but when the dust settled nothing of the former Autobot remained.

The femme slowly stood, her head hanging in sorrow, hardly paying attention as Megatron picked up the key.

"What manner of treasure did Iacon send us this time?" his gravelly voice asked approaching the female Autobot. Using the tip of his sword Megatron lifted her chin so that she was looking up at him. "I would slice you in two right now but I need you to deliver a message. Tell Optimus Prime that if he wants this relic, he must come and claim it himself. And make sure he brings with him that which belongs to me. I would like back what that young Autobot stole. We had her first and will have her again. Knock Out would like her 'advice' in some things."

Dropping his sword from her, the mech threw the relic into the ground, where it stuck like a spear. Slowly Arcee plodded off, calling for a ground bridge and stepping inside.

Walking alone back into the base, she tried to think of a way to tell the others about Smokescreen but nothing came to mind. All she could do was look up into the expectant faces of the Autobots – their humans having been taken home. The grief in her optics told her all they needed to know. No one uttered a word, knowing that the mech would not be walking through the bridge.

Optimus dropped his head, letting out a deep groan of sorrow for the loss of the young bot. Ratchet was the next to move, making his way over to Arcee wanting to check her over for injuries.

Suddenly a chipper voice broke the silence. "I heard the ground bridge and thought I'd come out and see if the mission was a success." It was Violetwind, having taken it upon herself to get off her berth and find her way into the main hub.

Everyone turned to looked at her; her bright smile faded upon seeing their sombre faces. Noticing that a certain someone was missing she tried to ask but her voice cracked when she did, "Smokescreen?"

Nobody said a word but then again they did not have to. A pain shot through her chest like someone had kicked her with all of their might. Smokescreen was gone...

The femme's legs buckled, dropping her to the floor. The Autobots all rushed over, Bumblebee and Bulkhead supporting her as they helped her back to her pedes.

"You shouldn't be out and about yet anyway," scolded Ratchet, albeit half-heartedly.

_Ratchet can go frag himself_ the voice suddenly grumbled, sounding very irritable.

Neither Ratchet's nor the voice's words mattered to her though. All Violetwind's mind could think of right then was one thing, everything else was lost on her. "He's... he's gone..."


	7. Chapter 7

Good think I do my final proofreading, before the new chapter goes up, the day before because I decided to change a chunk of it to flow better otherwise it would be late! (Still think it could use some work though :/)

* * *

Chapter 7

The Autobots gathered around Arcee, the femme explaining what had happened. Each one was stricken with grief at the news. No one could say that loosing the boisterous young mech had not affected them. It was hard to accept that they had lost one of their own.

"And then Smokescreen was just... gone. Like he had turned to dust..." finished the two wheeler, her gaze turning sadly to the ground.

"Poor kid," muttered Bulkhead.

Ratchet tried to console her, "Arcee, do not blame yourself. It could just have easily been you."

Meanwhile, sitting propped up by the wall was Violetwind. Even as she listened to what had happened she could hardly process it. Smokescreen was the reason she was safe inside the Autobot's base. The very one who had risked his life to rescue her. The first one since she had awoken whom she had called friend. He was dead. It was difficult for her to comprehend.

Understandably the others were not ready to take the murder of their team mate lying down. Bulkhead brought out his arm blasters and growled, "I say we claim a piece of Megatron's miserable metal hide!"

_'He won't get away with this,'_ Bumblebee whirred in angry agreement, bringing out his own weapons, ready to join the fight.

The pair started towards the ground bridge, however, before they could get very far Optimus stretched out a hand to stop them. "No," he stated firmly. "We have already lost another one of our own today. I will not risk more lives. Given what Arcee witnessed, it stands to reason that Megatron now possess might to equal the Star Saber. Which means only _I_ have a chance of recovering the Omega Key."

Ratchet nodded, adding, "The fate of Cybertron rests upon its retrieval."

"Whether Megatron knows it or not..." finished Bulkhead.

Violetwind looked up at them with great worry on her features. She did not quite understand what was going on but it did not sound good.

_Cybertron..._

_What is it?_ she asked the voice.

_Our home planet,_ it replied, actually being useful for once. _Because of our warring it died..._

A deeper despair settled over the femme, not only containing her own sadness but the grief of her head's voice. The feeling was like a physical weight to her chest, closing in on her. War and fighting were such terrible things, hurting so many more than those who were killed...

The Autobots, feeling their own thoughts weigh them down, had their attentions diverted from such as Optimus Prime started to head off and prepare for the inevitable battle with Megatron.

"Optiums," Arcee called the leader back, "There was something else."

He paused to look back at her questioningly.

"Megatron... he... he also said he wanted what was his. What was taken from him..." her gaze drifted back to Violetwind still sitting up against the wall.

The purple femme looked up and felt a cold chill run through her, realising just what the Decepticon warlord wanted; her.

_Slag that 'Con_, grumbled her voice.

A protest of beeps came from Bumblebee, _'He can't have Violetwind! He has no claim to her!'_

"Yeah, we can't let him take another of ours!" growled Bulkhead, looking ready to pound something.

The Prime let out a deep vent as he pondered his options. Finally he addressed the femme in question, "Do you believe you are strong enough to accompany me?"

She looked up at him with wide blue optics. "Y-yes," she stuttered, "b-but y-you're not g-going to hand me over are you?!"

He replied with the deepest conviction, "No. And I give you my word that he will not harm you. I will protect you, Violetwind."

His voice instilled hope in her, like she just knew he would do as he promised. Even though she was still scared she would trust him and whatever he might have planned. "Ok, Optimus," she did her best to put a brave smile on her face, "What do you want me to do?"

...

The dark of night surrounded the glow of the ground bridge. The rolling waves of sand were such a contrast to the stone blocks of the ancient human structure, even in the soft night light.

Stepping through the vortex came Optimus and Violetwind, the latter glancing about with worry. The mech, however, displayed his usual calmness.

Immediately Megatron smiled seeing them both there, standing still some distance away. "Glad to see you again, and looking much better," he addressed the femme first.

A cold glare was all he received in return. Optimus had previously cautioned her against saying anything to the Decepticon, no matter what he said that might possibly provoke her. If he knew of her memory loss and accompanying different personality he would use it to his advantage. So they decided to not give him the chance to discover it.

"Now, Violetwind – my scientist – come with me quietly. You will save Optimus the trouble of fighting to his death if you do. It will merely be a simple trade; you for the relic. And there will be no getting away from me this time. Your pathetic saviour can no longer help you... He was so easy to dispose of."

Anger flashed through her at Megatron's words. Fear may have kept her rooted in place but fury caused her to clench her fists tightly, metal grinding against metal. The silver mech spoke as if she was something that could be bought, nothing more than an object. Then on top of this he was flippant about Smokescreen's death, so casual about having taken the mech's life.

Glaring back at the Decepticon, her attention was broken by a soft sound at her sides. Looking down she saw that her hands had been replaced by two short swords the length of her forearm. _I didn't even know I could do that..._ she thought, staring at them in surprise.

"This is not your fight," Optimus calmly told her, a hand outstretched to stop her from possibly moving into battle.

With a nod she sheathed her blades, returning her hands to her sides.

Turning his attention back to Megatron, he raised his voice, "I will not allow you to take her. The femme has chosen where she stands, and it is not with you."

He let out a spine chilling chuckle in response, and addressed the mech, "So be it. You've just come for the relic then." Raising his hand, he clenched his fist. "I welcome the battle."

The Autobot leader's optics went wide with horror as he noticed Megatron's arm. The hand he currently possessed on his right was not his own. Instead he was using that of a previous Prime, have desecrated a tomb to retrieve the appendage. In shock Optimus uttered, "By the All Spark, Megatron. What have you done?"

"This?" the mech casually raised the hand, flexing the fingers, "I find it affords me certain... advantages. Such as the use of the Forge of Solus Prime." From his back he brought out the glowing sword. "My first creation," he boasted proudly showing it off, "Fashioned from the very blood of Unicron. I call it the Dark Star Saber, Slayer of Primes, if you will." Letting the dark energon sword relax to a more comfortable holding position he looked back at his enemies.

Optimus narrowed his optics at the mech. This was one fight he knew could not afford to lose.

"This shall be your grave, Optimus!" roared the Decepticon, charging at his opponent.

Giving a slight nod to Violetwind, the Autobot leader charged forward too. She knew what she was to do, but could not help watching in awe as the two large mechs began their battle.

The silver one raised his sword before quickly slashing it down, sending out a purple energy wave. When it approached him, Optimus cut the energy wave in two allowing it to safely dissipate around him and keep Violetwind from being hit.

Soon the pair were locked in a clash of swords and the femme took this moment to slip away with the intent on fetching the Omega Key, which Optimus had instructed her to do earlier when they were going over their options back at the base.

The Autobots had explained how the Omega Keys were a vital component in restoring life to Cybertron. Retrieving all four they would be able return to their home planet, reviving the world so it could support life once again and bring back all the scattered Cybertronians from the far reaches of space.

Skirting the battle, she kept an optic on its progression. With each swing of their weapons, the swords connected and a sharp sound rang out, making her want to flinch in response. Fighting on, neither one was able to get a clear hit on the other; neither fighter gaining the advantage.

"At last we take our rightful places, Optimus. As gods! Wielding the power of the cosmos!" Megatron yelled excitedly, power flowing through his very being. Hitting his opponent in the chest, the bot flew backwards from the force, smashing into a wall. Taking the opportunity, the Decepticon leader forced the red and blue mech against the stones, his hand over the other's throat.

It took a lot of willpower from Violetwind to keep going with her goal instead of trying to help him. She knew she would be infective against Megatron but the knowledge of her uselessness in battle did not make things any easier.

However, Optimus was able to hold his own. Glaring back he replied, "I am but a soldier, Megatron. And you are only a prisoner of your own twisted delusions!" Pushing the mech off himself, Prime hit back and their fighting continued.

The battle went on, oblivious to the femme as she neared where the Omega Key stood, right where Megatron had left it, speared into the sand. She was just leaning over to grab it when a particularly hard strike had Optimus on the ground, the metal on his shoulder torn.

His enemy stood over him. "My Dark Star Saber has tasted one spark tonight, yet still thirsts for that of a Prime!"

"Optimus! No!" cried out Violetwind involuntarily, her optics wide with fear for the mech.

About to deliver the killing blow, Megatron found his attack blocked. Optimus had raised his blade just in time to defend himself.

Letting out a sigh of relief, she turned back to grabbing the key but was distracted again, this time by a surprised voice from behind her. "Violet?"

Whirling around she met the optics of the speaker. A surprised smile lit up her face as she saw who it was; relief and joy filling her, along with disbelief. "Smokescreen! You're alive!"

Walking up to her he shook his head and grinned, "I was the last time I checked. Why ever wouldn't I be?"

"Because Arcee said she saw you hit the wall. There was nothing but dust. You were just gone! What else would we th-" She started to explain when Smokescreen's face fell as he looked over her shoulder.

Turning around she immediately saw why he looked the way he did. Optimus was on his knees in front of Megatron, a broken Star Saber in his hand. The pieces of the once magnificent weapon had simply evaporated into smoke. A horrible sinking feeling flooded over the Autobots watching as their leader was towered over by their greatest enemy.

Megatron held his Dark Star Saber to Optimus' back as he spoke, "And so it ends, just as I envisioned. With your head beside my new trophy."

Quickly reaching around the femme, Smokescreen snatched up the relic before the Decepticon could do anything. "Oh you mean this relic?" he called out, holding up the key. "Finder's keepers!"

He looked over at the rookie, surprise in his glowing red optics. Using the moment of distraction, Optimus shoved the sword away from himself and grabbed the wrist holding it in one smooth motion. Megatron tried to wrestle free of his grip but instead Prime struck him in the chest with the hilt of his broken sword, knocking the silver mech back. "Smokescreen, Violetwind, fall back!" he commanded.

The femme started to do so when she noticed her companion was headed into the fight. "What are you doing?" she called out, thinking he was absolutely crazy.

"I have to help him, trust me ok?" the mech called back, continuing into the fray.

Megatron had just delivered a rough punch to the Prime's head, knocking him backward. After rolling, the Autobot ended up back on his pedes just as his opponent slashed his saber sending an energon wave his way. Optimus stared at it but had nowhere to go and nothing to stop it, only able to watch it roll closer, carrying with it his final moment.

But it was not to be. Smokescreen jumped in front of his leader and grabbed his arm so the energy wave passed safely through the both of them.

Optimus glanced thankfully at the rookie before calling into his comm link. "Ratchet! Ground bridge!"

"Noooo!" Megatron yelled in frustration.

The swirling vortex appeared just behind them.

"Missed us!" teased the cocky mech.

Violetwind joined up with the mechs, and they all ran for the ground bridge. Seeing them trying to leave, the Decepticon let out a roar, charging after them. With a quick slash of his sword he sent a purple energy wave their way in a last effort to get them before they disappeared. Leaping into the swirling blue-green vortex the Autobots were saved as it closed after them, the energy wave missing.

Megatron, now left alone in the darkness, started to laugh menacingly to the air. "Run, Optimus, run. Those trinkets from Iacon will not save you or that femme. Not when I now possess the power to tear this world apart!"

...

Back at the Autobot base, Optimus Prime walked through the ground bridge first followed by Violetwind, Smokescreen and the relic bringing up the rear. It felt so good to be back at the base and safe, the purple femme letting out a sigh of relief.

Ratchet was quick to usher Optimus over to the side so he could check the obvious wound on his shoulder. Everyone else though was staring in disbelief at the white and blue mech, who was smiling brightly back at them.

Bulkhead was the first one to stay something, "Smokescreen?"

He grinned in return, waving the relic proudly, "And Omega Key number one."

"But... how? I mean, I saw you..." Arcee muttered, hardly able to believe what her optics were seeing.

"I, uh, decided to borrow the phase shifter," he admitted a little guiltily as he held up his wrist showing off the device.

The medic finished the scan of Optimus' shoulder and let him leave, the Prime returning the the monitors. When he heard Smokescreen he turned to splutter, looking over at the mech with disapproving optics, "Again?"

He gave a slight nod, "Good thing too." The rookie went on to explain what had happened, "The wave from the blast hit me like a wrecking ball. The impact must have activated the shifter. I don't know how long I was unconscious but when I made my way back outside, Optimus and Megatron were deep in an epic throw-down and Violetwind was going for the Omega Key. I waited for the right moment to make my move."

Arcee smirked, admitting, "You're learning."

Raising an optic ridge Violetwind inquired, "And you were standing behind me before you uttered my name in surprise how long then?"

"Ahh," he chuckled nervously, "Long enough..."

With a shake of her head, she let him get away with it this time. Arcee rolled her optics, mostly at how easily the mech was caught out while Bulkhead and Bumblebee chuckled.

Ignoring their responses, Smokescreen perked up, asking eagerly, "So can I keep the phase shifter? It is really working out for me."

"Fine, fine," grumbled Ratchet, waving a hand at him dismissively.

"Yes! Signature weapon!" cheered the mech. Turning around, his gaze fell on the broken Star Saber lying where Optimus had left it after returning. He became quiet.

Everyone looked over at it with disappointment. The Autobots had lost their strongest weapon and best advantage to helping end the war.

"You got yours. Optimus lost his," lamented Bulkhead.

Arcee added, "The balance of power has shifted again."

"While he may have only wielded the power of the ancients for a short time, Optimus does not require it to be the mightiest of warriors," declared Ratchet as they all looked over at their leader, who was working at the computer.

It was true. Not only physically strong, he possessed the greatest courage and will to fight for the freedom of all sentient beings. Violetwind felt privileged to be there with him as her leader. Glancing over at Smokescreen, she was glad he was still alive too. To lose a friend in only a few days since she remembered waking up would be too much for her to take.

Thinking on this, she could feel a strange mixture of sadness and guilt but it was not her own feelings. These came from the voice that liked to interrupt her thoughts. Walking away from the others she leant against the wall looking at her pedes.

She tried to question the voice, _What's wrong?_

Her thoughts were quiet before it eventually 'spoke' up, _There are things best not yet known..._

* * *

Hope you liked it!  
Also, side note, if you haven't seen Transformers: Rescue Bots you need to. It's actually quite brilliantly written and is full of humorous one liners and so many references. Plus some great voice actors like Steve Blum (aka Starscream) voicing Heatwave. So check it out already!


	8. Chapter 8

Mostly friendship building in this one, I guess you could say sort of a filler chapter. But I donno... Whatever though, it's a fun sort of chapter, so enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 8

The next morning the base was remarkable quiet, if a little boring for the purple femme. Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee were picking up their partners so they could spend the Saturday with them. While Smokescreen was off somewhere, though, she did not really know where he had gone. This left her alone in the base with Optimus and Ratchet, both of whom seemed to be busy.

After wandering around the halls for a little while she considered asking to go outside but was unsure if she actually wished to venture from the safety of the base. There was nothing of interest in the room the bots had set up for her, leaving her with the only other option of using humans TV and watching something but she felt that she had already done enough of that recently.

Nevertheless she walked back into the main hub. Optimus and Ratchet had been talking in hushed tones but immediately became quiet upon noticing her. Such an action made her feel rather uncomfortable like she had stumbled upon something she should not have.

"Um, I-I hope I'm not interrupting anything..." she said nervously.

"No, Violetwind, it is alright," Optimus told her. "Is there anything you desired?"

"Um, no. I was just looking for something to do..."

The pair shared a glance before he replied, "Ratchet informs me that physically you are ready for active duty." He paused to see how she would take the news.

At first she smiled, thrilled to be cleared for a clean bill of health but as she realised what active duty meant her smile fell, fear replacing the joy in her optics. "A-active duty?" she repeated. "Optimus, sir, I-I think you should know that I can't fight. I don't know how. I can barely control my weapons. I-I couldn't hope to take anything on!"

"It is alright, Violetwind, I am aware of this," he spoke calmly, the hint of a smile on his face, "Do not worry yourself over it. You will not be joining any battles until you are ready. Until then, the other Autobots will be helping you regain your fighting skills."

The femme let loose a sigh of relief at the mech's word. Optimus really had a way of putting someone at ease. Feeling more comfortable she asked, "So, um, when do I start then?"

A small grin played on the leader's face. "You will begin when the others return." With a nod of dismissal he turned back to Ratchet.

Seeing that the conversation was over, Violetwind left them to talk in peace. Going over to wait near the base's entrance she hoped that learning to fight would mean she would not have to feel so useless. She would actually be able do something.

Before long the three Autobots and their human partners arrived. Each greeted Violetwind warmly, which she returned in kind. They began chatting a little before Miko asked if there was any missions going on that day, wishing to see some Decepticons made into scrapheaps.

Optimus Prime wandered over being his usual stoic self. After a nod in greeting to them he spoke, "I do have a mission for you."

"Alright!" cheered the teenage girl.

Not even phased by the interruption he continued, "It has to do with our latest Autobot. First of all, she still requires a vehicular mode from this planet. Miko, Bulkhead, I would like you to aid her with this. Take the day getting used to driving, Violetwind. Tomorrow Jack shall take you out to learn Earth's basic road rules with Arcee accompanying you. I expect that it will not go as it did the last time." He gave the boy a warning look, which Jack responded to with a sheepish look of his own.

"Each of you will also be training Violetwind in the use of her weapons and combat skills. These may be necessary not only if Megaton should decide to come after you again but also in our quest for the remaining Iacon relics. Now you have a day ahead of you, do not go wasting it, Autobots."

"And do not go straining yourself. I don't want to need to be patching you up again so soon," Ratchet warned the femme.

"I won't," she promised.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's get you a v-mode!" yelled Miko, throwing up her arms in enthusiasm.

"I'll be ground bridging you out so you don't have to go walking about as you are and be seen," informed the medic.

Bulkhead transformed down to his SUV form, opening the door for Miko to hop in, which the girl promptly did. Honking his horn the mech called out, "Let's get out there!"

Violetwind smiled at their enthusiasm. "Ok, no time like the present, I guess."

Stepping through the ground bridge the trio found themselves atop a plateau overlooking a highway. After letting Miko climb out, the large green mech transformed back into his robot mode.

"Come on, let's get you a sweet v-mode!"

Going over to the edge the two Autobots lay on their fronts where they would not get much notice but could clearly see the road and all the cars driving along it.

"So, um, you may have to run me through how this works..." the femme told her companions.

"That crash musta really done a number on your memory, Vi. You don't even remember how to transform?" Miko observed.

Shaking her head she admitted, "I've had to relearn everything since I awoke."

"You'll be back to your old fighting self in no time," encouraged Bulkhead.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she replied with a grateful smile, though not fully convinced. "So about this scanning and transforming?"

Bulkhead looked out over the highway. "It's actually not that hard. I mean even me, bolts for brains can do it." He chuckled lightly, before continuing, "When you find the vehicle you want its just a matter of activating your optics for a scan."

"Mhmmm..." she nodded but still didn't really get it.

He grinned, "Just try it out when you find a car you like."

"You should be find something awesome. Think you could do a monster truck?" the human girl look up at the femme excited about her suggestion.

Keeping her optics on the passing vehicles, Violetwind shook her head. "I don't think I'm big enough for that."

"A small monster truck?"

She shot the girl an unamused look before going back to watching the cars.

"Fine. Just don't pick something super lame like that old van," grumbled Miko pointed at the vehicle as it drove by, slumping against her green companion's arm.

The femme giggled, "I don't think that's really my style either." Seeing a small car she pointed at it. "How about that one?" It was a Volkswagen New Beetle, a small car with a domed appearance.

Miko looked over at it and wrinkled her nose. "You're kidding right? Vi! You want something that looks better than a puny bug!"

"It doesn't look that bad," she muttered in disappointment.

With a sigh and shake of her head, the girl replied,"Vi, come on, you want something with some power if you're not going to go for size. And a bug ain't got that!"

"Miko, give her a break," Bulkhead lightly scolded his partner. "Don't worry, you'll get used to her, Violet."

Violetwind shot a smile back at the mech. "I hope so. Either that or go insane I think," she teased.

"Hey!" the girl went over and gave Violetwind's arm a kick.

"Ow, hey! What was that for?" the femme flinched despite it not truly hurting much at all.

"That's for saying that I'll make you go insane," the human replied, folding her arms and looking up at her.

"Well it's true," she grinned. This earned her a more annoyed look before kicks started coming her way again. "Hey, stop it!" the femme chuckled, holding her arms up to shield herself from the onslaught.

Beside them Bulkhead chuckled. "Miko..." he chided but did nothing to stop her.

"Bulkhead!" peaking out from behind her arms, Violetwind whined, "Aren't you going to help me out?"

"No, he's not! You're going to have to tough it out and take your punishment!" Miko replied for him.

With a cheeky grin, the purple bot decided that she would have to defend herself by going on the offensive. "Fine, I'll have to take care of myself then!"

Reaching out a finger she poked it into the girl's side, who let out a squeal and jumped away in response. Narrowing her eyes, her cheeks flushed red. Miko glared up at the femme, who was still holding a cheeky grin. They held each other's gaze for a few moments, daring for the other to make the first move.

So Violetwind did.

Reaching out a finger she started to tickle the human girl.

"No! Stop it!" Miko cried out between giggles. Breaking away from the femme, she ran behind Bulkhead.

"Look who's not taking it now," the purple femme giggled .

She received a glare in response. "You were using unfair tactics!"

"It's not like you to run from a fight, Miko," chuckled Bulkhead.

"Who's side are you on anyway!" she snapped earning another chorus of laughter from the bots.

While they were laughing, Violetwind caught sight of a car in the corner of her optic. Quickly she turned her full attention on it as it drove their way. "That one! It's perfect!" she pointed towards the car.

The others looked over, Miko nodding in approval. "Looks good to me."

For a moment the femme forgot about needing to scan it, too excited at having found something she liked, until Miko bluntly pointed it out. "Well ya gonna do something!?"

"Oh yeah, scanning, right..." she muttered sheepishly. Focusing her gaze on the car she wanted for her vehicle mode she tried to think about scanning it but it did not appear to be working. Violetwind started to panic. She could not let it get away without acquiring it as her alternate mode and if she did not scan it now, it might just do that.

_Calm down. Just be calm and focus your optics on it,_ the voice in her head commanded her.

Slowly she took a deep breath of air into her intakes to calm herself. Taking a good look at the car this time it worked. The scanning beams shot from her optics over the car.

"Yes! I did it! Yes!" she cheered, so excited she jumped up onto her pedes.

"Oh yeah! Now let's see it on you!" shouted Miko.

The purple femme became quiet.

"C'mon, you're not scared are you?"

"Mmmm, well... maybe just a little..."

Bulkhead smiled warmly, "It's gonna be fine," he assured her, "This may be the first time remembering it but you've done this before so don't worry so much about it. First move away from the edge though. We don't need anyone to see you."

The trio moved out of sight of the humans, and down behind the plateau where Violetwind had plenty of room to transform. Standing there she shifted on her pedes nervously, not sure what to do, knowing that this should come as naturally as walking to her.

The voice came to her rescue again. _Focus on the specifications of the vehicle you just scanned. _

Closing her optics and taking another load of air into her intakes she readied herself. Bringing up the scan of the car in her mind she let it be her whole focus.

_Now let thoughts of it extend out to your whole body,_ coached her voice.

Following its instructions, her optics still closed, she thought about the scan of the car reaching out to the rest of her body. As it went out she could feel some tingling but did her best to ignore it, instead focusing harder on her task.

Suddenly it was like she short circuited, a shock going through her entire body. Crying out in pain, she collapsed, grunting as she hit the ground.

"Vi!" called out an alarmed Miko as Bulkhead rushed over to help her up again.

"I'm- I'm fine guys," the femme tried to reassure them, leaning against the green mech for support.

"We should get you back to Ratchet so he can check you over. That's not normal," he said looking over her with worry.

"Wait!" she protested before he could call back to base. "I'm fine. Please just give me a minute to recover and let me try again."

The mech was not convinced.

"Please, Bulkhead..."

"It couldn't do any more harm, could it, Bulk?" Miko added her plea, not wishing to return to base without having some fun.

He groaned but nodded. "But only once and the doc really needs to know what happened. You'd better tell him when we get back. I'll carry you off there myself if you don't."

Violetwind nodded eagerly. "I will, I will," she promised. Standing upright she took a few steps away before trying again. Once more she closed her optics and focused on the car scan. This time there was less tingling in her body. Instead the familiar noise of metal clanging sounded in the air.

Before Bulkhead and Miko sat a dark purple Holden Commodore SS.

"How do you like me now?" she asked cheerily.

"Woo! C'mon give it a spin! Show us what you've got!"

Revving her engine, the femme pushed the accelerator down, slowly at first; turning so as not to hit her companions but gaining speed when there was nothing in her way.

"Woohoo!" she yelled racing along the dirt. "This is awesome!"

Making a sharp turn she skid around a few times, which scared her a little but she soon came to a stop without having hit anything so she allowed herself to relax. Turning, she headed back to the others, living up the speed as she did. This time she came to a far more controlled stop in front of her companions.

"Alright, Vi! Slick v-mode!" Miko hollered.

"Nice speed, give Bee and Smoke a bit of competition there," the green mech grinned.

Returning to her robot mode she smiled excitedly at them both. "That was pretty incredible!"

The femme glanced at her back as best she could, the simple wings on her back having become her car doors. Her front had changed a little as well, her chest taking on the new style of her headlights.

"Let's go tear up some ground and see just how good you are with your new wheels!" the girl shouted out a challenge, "Bet you couldn't beat me and Bulk, over to those rocks!"

The mech promptly transformed down into his SUV, Miko climbing inside.

"You're on," she accepted, transforming down herself.

Both vehicles revved their engines as Miko led the count down. "Three... Two... One... Go!"

They sprang forward with a burst of acceleration across the dusty plain.

Violetwind's lighter frame accompanied by V8 engine helped her to fly across the ground but she was not able to take the bumps as well as Bulkhead and his vehicle form much more suited to off road.

"C'mon Bulk! You can beat her!" Miko called out encouragement from his cab, cheering him on as they neared the rock that marked their finish line.

Both vehicles did their best to put on an extra burst of speed. Engines roared, but it was Violetwind who started to pull ahead. "Woohoo!" she yelled as she passed the rock first. Sliding to a stop she transformed back into robot mode, Bulkhead coming to a stop beside her.

"I could hardly keep up there," he admitted, with a tiny bit of awe.

Miko popped her head out the window, not taking the loss as easily as her partner. "I wanna rematch!"

With a light chuckled the femme responded, "I thought I was supposed to spend the day actually practising my driving and stuff. Not racing."

"Racing is driving!" the girl snapped.

Violetwind rolled her optics. "I'm pretty sure when Optimus sent us out here he didn't have racing on his mind."

"Vi's right. We need to be taking this more seriously," the mech agreed.

Slouching back on the seat, Miko poured. "Hmph, but that's not as fun..."

Nevertheless the trio spent the rest of the day practising her general driving so she would not have trouble when she went on the roads the next day. They did manage to sneak in a few more races though, much to the delight of Miko.

Both Autobots, dusty and tired after a long day, drove back into base. Bulkhead honked his horn as they entered, gathering everyone's attention. All eyes and optics turned their way and none missed the dust covered purple Commodore that drove in after him.

"Not too bad, for a car," muttered Arcee with a playful smirk.

Meanwhile Bumblebee beeped in his encouragement at her choice. _'Nice pick. I think it suits you.'_

Violetwind transformed out of her vehicle mode, smiling in thanks.

"Hey, not too bad at all," commented Smokescreen, "Smooth lines..." Realising how his comment could be taken he stuttered out an apology. "Um, I mean for the car, that you, um, chose..." His optics stared at the ground sheepishly.

The femme's face grew heated as she looked away nervously. "Um, yeah..."

The teenaged girl made a show of clearing her throat. "When you guys are done..."

This only made the pair feel more awkward, Bumblebee whirling in amusement.

"Um, well I'm just going to go now..." murmured the purple femme, quickly excusing herself and heading down a hallway.

As she left she heard Arcee chuckle in amusement, "Wow that was smooth, Smokescreen."

Violetwind just groaned, her door wings slumping in embarrassment. With a deep intake of air she tried to forget the awkward moment that had just passed and focused on finding Ratchet. Bulkhead had told her that she really should have the medic take a look at her after her mishap trying to transform the first time. She did not wish to go and see the medic, feeling like she had been burden enough but he had threaten to haul her to the medical bay if she refused. Though she had doubts about him actually carrying it out she did not want to do anything to gain his disapproval. After their day together she considered Bulkhead and Miko to be her friends. It had been more like a hang out day than training.

Peaking around the corner of the medical bay, she spotted the mech in his usual place. "Oh, um, Ratchet..." she began.

The medic turned around at the sound of his name. "Violetwind, is there something wrong?"

"Erm, well, sort of... Maybe... I don't really know..." she shuffled nervously on her pedes.

He raised an eyebrow ridge waiting for her to explain and she did. Quickly she spilled out what had come over her during her first transformation attempt, with the strange tingling and the jolt of pain accompanied by her collapse.

When she was done the medic looked thoughtful. "I'll do a scan to make sure but I suspect it's nothing serious. You had no trouble transforming afterwards?"

She shook her head. "No, it was fairly simple after that. It became more natural after the first time."

Having the femme lay down on the berth he attached a cable to her helm to check her circuits. Completing the scan Ratchet looked over his data. "As I suspected, just your circuits adjusting. After all the physical trauma you've gone through I'm not surprised. Just get some rest for now."

Nodding she silently left, returning to her room.

Now alone again, the medic looked back at his screens. "Just what is going on that head of yours, Violetwind..." he muttered quietly to himself, staring at the unexplainable anomaly in her scan.

* * *

Oh Primus that ending! I wrote it out and was so excited and just wanted to giggle evilly cause I knew that I was again giving the tiniest nibble on more of the voice. (It was also late when I wrote it out so I could have been a little tired and giddy XD)

The Volkswagon beetle mentioned in his chapter is my little homage to Herbie, that little car with a big personality as well as dear little original Bumblebee! And Violet's vehicle mode, the Holden commodore, is (other than looking through google for pictures of purple cars) my little bit of respect to the family car we had growing up, a dark green Holden commodore that served us for many many years. And shhh I know it's probs a bit of a foreign car for America, don't ruin my dreams. :P  
Speaking of her alt-mode, there's a link to it in my profile.


	9. Chapter 9

Another chapter of light story progression but stuff that I didn't really want to skip over with a 'this and this happened.' But we do get a few important tidbits in there too :P

* * *

Chapter 9

The early morning sun lit up the empty streets as two Autobots drove through the suburb. It was quiet, not many people having yet gotten out of bed. The female Autobots turned into Jack's driveway and although they arrived a little later than the time they had arranged to be there, the boy was still not ready. Parking in his driveway they waited for him to emerge.

Arcee with her human hologram called out, "Come on, Jack! We haven't got all day!"

"Hmmm, well actually we do..." mused Violetwind, since they had been given the day to learn the road rules.

"You do want him to come out before noon right?" quipped the two wheeler.

"Yeah... I suppose we do," she replied with a slight giggle.

The door of the house opened but instead of the human boy they were waiting for, out strode Jack's mother, June Darby, a mug of coffee in her hands.

"Well hello. Jack told me there was a new Autobot at the base, I guess that you must be her," the woman nodded towards the purple vehicle.

Arcee was quick to jump in and introduce them," June, this is Violetwind. Violetwind, June Darby, Jack's mum."

"Hello, Ms. Darby," she greeted politely.

"No need to be so formal, you can call me June, Violetwind," the woman smiled at her before taking a sip of her coffee. "So what did you girls have planned for today?"

"Then, you may call me Violet," the purple car responded cheerfully, "And Jack's going to take me driving and teach me the laws of your roads so that I can better blend in."

June glanced over at Arcee, "So how come you're coming along for the ride?"

"Protection," the blue femme replied. "Violet here isn't that capable in a fight yet."

"Will, Jack be safe?" the mother asked, always concerned about the safety of her son.

Arcee quickly put her fears to rest. "Of course, June. We aren't likely to see any trouble today as we're just staying around town."

"That's good." She relaxed, "You know how I worry."

The door opened for a second time this time Jack stepping through. "I still don't get why we had to start so early on a Sunday," he grumbled approaching the robots in disguise.

"It's not _that_ early," rebutted Arcee.

"But it's a Sunday. They were made for sleeping in late," he continued to gripe.

Violetwind giggled opening her door for the teen. "Guess you're not a morning person then?"

Climbing into the seat he shook his head. "Not really." Looking back at his mother he waved, "Bye, Mum."

"Bye, Jack. Take good care of my son." June waved back.

"No worries, Ms- ah, June," the purple femme corrected herself to call the nurse by her first name.

Reversing out of the driveway the trio headed off, ready for the lesson. After driving a few blocks Jack looked more awake and started giving her instructions. "See those signs with the numbers? Those are the speed limits. You can't go over them otherwise the police will want to come after you. Speeding is a sure way to get noticed."

"Speed limits. Don't go over. Got it," Violetwind acknowledged, her internal lights flashing a little brighter as she talked. "What else?"

He pointed out the next thing. "See those coloured lights up there? Those are traffic lights. Green is for go." Their light was green so she eased herself through the intersection. The next light coming up ahead of them was orange. "So what does that one mean?"

"Orange is like a warning. It means its about to go red and you have to stop on red." He explained.

The light changed colour and she came to a stop before the line, watching as a single car went across the intersection. "How's that?"

"Good." Jack went on to talk about stop signs and other kinds of signs as they drove along. He also explained to her about who had right of way at intersections when people were turning.

By noon, they had covered just about everything one ever needed know about driving. So with a growling human stomach to feed they stopped by the local takeaway shop. The place was deserted so leaning up against the wall, Jack ate his lunch near the disguised Autobots.

"So food is like your energon? And it has many different forms?" questioned Violetwind curiously.

The boy nodded, popping another chip in his mouth. "We have to eat. Humans can't go for too long without food and not even a few days without water."

"So it's like a constant upkeep of your bodies?"

Nodding again he scrunched up his rubbish, tossing it into a bin. "Was there anything else we we're doing today?" he asked dusting off his hands on his pants.

"I think we covered most of it. Violet should be able to get around fine without drawing attention to herself," Arcee replied.

"Heh, as long as a car driving itself isn't too odd," she chuckled.

Jack grinned, "Well it isn't quiet as noticeable as a motorcycle without a rider."

The two wheeled snapped, "Hey, that's what Sadie's for."

The purple femme chuckled again. "How about we head back to base then. I'm still yours for the day Arcee, shall we get started on teaching me to fight?"

"Sure."

Hopping back into the car, Jack leaned back on the seat. "You know it's kinda nice being driven around."

"Gee, glad you like being chauffeured around," Violet teased, "Would you like any bubbly, Sir?"

Jack chuckled at her imitation of a good butler. "Have you been watching movies?"

"Just a few. I have had a bit more time on my hands than the others. But I guess, I'll be a little busier now with training," disappointment clear in her voice.

"We're in a war. We don't have a lot of time for pleasures," Arcee grunted. "And training will be necessary without your knowledge of how to fight."

"Oh yes, um, I... well, I didn't mean that my training was a bad thing..." the purple vehicle replied shamefully.

They did not converse much more on the way back to the base, making it a little quiet. The two femmes headed into the room the Autobots used for a sort of gym; Jack stayed the main part of the base with the other kids. On the wall between the room and the hall was a patch job, trying to conceal what had been a hole. Violetwind was curious about it, having passed by and noticed it numerous time but never had the chance to ask about why it was like that before.

So when they were in the room preparing to start she casually glanced over at it, "So what's with the patch job on that wall over there?"

Arcee looked up, rolling her optics, a slight smile on her face. "That was from when Ratchet threw Bulk through the wall."

"He did what?!" She tried to process the thought of their medic tossing the large mech and it could hardly compute, let alone him actually going though the wall, which was made out of solid concrete.

The blue femme nodded. "He was souped-up on Synth-En at the time, giving him super strength and speed. It also made him go a bit crazy as well."

"Wow... That's some stuff then..."

"Yep, but let's get to your training," Arcee waved the femme over to stand with her in the centre of the room.

Going over, she looked down at the slightly smaller femme. "This synth-en stuff, what is it then?"

"Synthetic energon. We had hoped it was going to be a substitute for energon but, as we saw with Ratchet, it was unstable. Ratchet's really our expert on it not me. Why are you so curious anyway?"

Violetwind shrugged her shoulders, "I donno, it just sounded interesting."

"Probably your old scientific curiosity come through," the two wheeler suggested.

"Yeah, perhaps."

"Now, enough with the chatter and try to focus. Let's see your weapons," the femme instructed.

Setting her thoughts on the task at hand, she brought out her blasters. She had not used them since the day of her escape and she felt a little strange having them out. "Now what?"

"Try aiming for the target on the wall over there."

Lifting her arms she pointed them in the direction of the circle on the wall. Firing a few shots she did her best to hit the target. Not one even came within half a metre it.

"Hmm, your aim is rather off. Though all that should take is some practice. Moving targets are much harder but we'll just see if we can get you aiming straight for now. Just try to think of your shots as extensions of your hands, like you're pointing right at the object you want to hit rather than just setting them in the general direction and hoping you'll hit."

She hid a guilty grin. Pointing in the general direction and hoping she had hit was exactly how she had been approaching it. Seems she really had needed some coaching, along with a whole lot of practice.

So that's exactly what they did. The pair spent the afternoon working on Violetwind's technique, slowly improving her aim so she was shooting closer to the target as well as being more consistent with where her shots went, instead of being all over the place.

Eventually they decided to call it a day. Violetwind had grown tired, her arms becoming worn out from all the shooting and heat it had produced. She was very ready to get some recharge.

Heading back to her room where she could get some rest she ran into Optimus Prime, literally.

"Oh, I- I- I'm s- so sorry, Optimus, Sir," she stuttered stumbling backwards, "I- I didn't see you there. I wasn't paying attention." She stared at the floor, not willing to look up at him in embarrassment, door wings lowered.

His voice was calm and comforting as he replied, "Do not trouble yourself, Violetwind. There was no harm done. You seemed preoccupied. What was on your mind?"

Taking a shaky intake of air she looked up into his caring blue optics. "N-not much really... I was mostly thinking about getting some recharge. It was a long day. I have so much I need to remember and so much to improve upon." Her gaze drifted back to the ground.

"I see... I am sure you will do well. Despite you memory loss, I believe you are still very intelligent and we are lucky to have you here. Do not let thoughts that say otherwise bring you down."

His words brought her comfort, helping her to feel much more at ease and inspiring hope within her. "Thank you, Optimus," she smiled up at the leader, door wings perking with her mood.

"You are most welcome. Go rest up. Tomorrow you will likely have another long day with Bumblebee as your teacher," he replied, the hint of a smile on his face.

With a nod she continued off to her room for some recharge with a smile and feeling more enthusiastic about the future.

...

The next morning she was standing with Bumblebee in the same room as the previous day; the training room. Standing opposite the yellow mech, she shifted on her pedes a little nervously. "So we're going to battle each other?"

He nodded, _'Yeah, but it's not a real fight. We're not actually trying to hurt each other.' _

"Ok... Um what should I do then? Am I supposed to use my swords?" She glanced down at her arms in uncertainty.

_'No,'_ he whirred, shaking his head, _'For now we'll start with the basics without your weapons. To start off stand with your pedes apart, left ped forward and right ped behind. Keep your hands up and elbows in.'_

Bumblebee demonstrated to her how to stand. Copying his stance as best she could, the femme held her hands up near her face.

_'Elbows in,'_ he repeated, looking at them until she brought them in closer to her body. _'Good, now bend your knees. You'll want to keep your knees slightly bent at all times. It's important for giving your punches more power.'_

"Ok," she nodded her understanding. Bending her knees a little and her hands up ready for a fight she was already feeling a little more confident about her lesson.

_'So now we'll go on to the punching part. With your left hand you'll be jabbing at your opponent like so.'_ He demonstrated the move, using his left fist to punch the air.

Repeating his movements, Violetwind jabbed at her air with her own fist.

_'Now try a few in quick succession.'_

With a glance at him she, turned her optics back to her imaginary opponent. With a few quick strikes she aimed for where she thought its head might be in front of her. "How was that?"

The mech chirped, _'Not bad. Ok now we'll use your other fist. This one will have more power behind it. You see because its your far side you can step forward and use that momentum as you twist your body to put more force behind the hit.'_

Slowly he demonstrated this for her so that she might see just how he moved. _'Alright now try it with me.'_

Violetwind mimicked his slow movements learning how her servos were to respond. He had her do this a few times to get used to it before she was to actually try a proper punch to the air.

After a while she became more used to the motions and he decided they could try to do a light sparring session.

_'Obviously all your enemies are not going to stay still and they certainly won't let you do all the attacking. They're going to be doing their best to take you down too. So to get you used to that your going to fight me. I'm going to go easy on you but don't expect it to be too simple.'_

She nodded taking up a fighting stance in front of him. "Ok, I'm ready... I think..."

With a trill of acknowledgement, Bumblebee declared the fight to begin.

At first they just circled one another sizing each other up, waiting to see who would back the first move. Half a minute went by like this before Violetwind was the first to attempt a strike. Jabbing her left fist forward she aimed for his head. Bumblebee easily dodged the sloppy hit though, throwing his own left fist forward to hit her helm, before the femme had even returned her fist to its starting position.

She was slightly dazed by the attack but quickly recovered. "Thought you were going easy on me?"

_'This is going easy on you. Just, giving you some real life lessons too,' _she could hear the tease in his beeps.

With a small grin she turned her attention back to their battle.

_Fake a jab then punch him,_ instructed her voice.

Circling around a little more she thought on the advice. Her voice sounded far more knowledgeable than her right then so decided to give it a try. Faking a left jab, the mech dodged but she knew he would do that so sent a hard punch at where his helm was going with her right. There as a sharp clang of metal hitting metal as she delivered the blow. Jumping away her optics went wide as Bumblebee stumbled from the attack.

"Oh my gosh, Bumblebee are you alright?!" she asked worriedly.

Recovering he beeped, _'Yeah. Sure wasn't expecting that though. Where did you get that from?'_ Briefly shaking his helm he returned to his fighting stance.

"Um, I guess you could say it 'came to me,'" she muttered in repy, taking a fighting stance once again.

They continued the spar, Violetwind's voice often coaching her on useful tactics. Some of these she pulled off successfully, others did not fair so well with her inexperience. By the end of it though she had learnt so much. Bumblebee had even been impressed a few times as well.

_'Perhaps your memories of fighting are returning more easily than some of the others,'_ the yellow mech commented as they walked down the hallway.

"Maybe, I'm not really sure..."

_'Just trust your instincts. They should serve you well,'_ he beeped encouragement.

"Trust my voice, really. She... It...?" she wasn't sure how to describe the voice in her head. "Anyway, that voice was really my guiding force. It just knew exactly what to do when I didn't," she confessed.

Her companion let out a whir. _'Well it could be part of your old self. It certainly seems to be trying to help you. Best thing to do might just be to listen.'_

The purple femme smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks"

Trilling happily he replied, _'You're welcome there, Violet. We'll have to do some more sparring again. I expect you and that voice to get a lot better. Maybe even beat me if you get lucky!'_

She chuckled, "Might need heaps more practice before that happens."

Lifting his hand in a wave he beeped goodbye as they parted ways. Reciprocating in kind she waved, calling out her own goodbye as he disappeared around a corner.

Something the mech said stuck with her. 'You and that voice.' Like they were two distinct things. It made her wonder just how separate they were.

"If you are me why can't you just move and stuff? Why did you have to actually tell me what to do instead of just react...?" But the halls and her head were just as quiet as before she spoke, leaving her questions unanswered...

* * *

And so we have another chapter for this week with some lovely little stuff at the end there. ;)  
Had to actually look up stuff for the fight so I knew a little bit and how to instruct her. So thank you wikihow XD  
Also Bee, you've proven to have quite the incite there. We shall have to see how this pans out...^^


	10. Chapter 10

And we're up to chapter 10! And we get to see my favourite Decepticon too!  
It's a bit of a longer one, I thought about splitting off the latter scene into a new chapter, or being really mean and leaving the last scene in a cliffhanger by stopping it halfway but I couldn't do it. So you all get to read more this time!

Also, I have finished writing the story and next chapter will mean we're halfway through! Exciting stuff! I'll still be releasing one chapter a week, mostly because although I've finished writing there's still some editing to be done.

* * *

Chapter 10

A week went by and Violetwind kept up her training with every day that passed. Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Smokescreen had worked with her in both close physical combat and the use of her blasters. Along with the training, she had been working with the voice during the sparring. Though she still was unsure about the voice itself, it was in her best interest to listen to it, something that was becoming more natural to do during the fights.

At that moment Violetwind was alone in the training room. She had not had much of a chance to train with her swords. Those who had been training her did not have anything quite like them. Arcee was the closest, having blades down her arms but they used a rather different way to fight so she was not able to help as much as the femme would have liked. She knew Optimus and Ratchet both had swords but both always seemed so busy with something and she did not wish to intrude upon their work.

Drawing out her blades she looked down at were her hands once were. Carefully she tested their weight, seeing how they felt as she moved them through the air. Getting used to this she took up her usual fighting stance. Imaging an opponent in front of her she made a few experimental slashes at its head. It was certainly different to throwing punches, something she realised and tried to adjust for the next swing she took at it.

After a few minutes she paused, lowering her arms. She opened her mouth to mutter about her voice not being helpful with learning to use her swords when someone else spoke instead.

A deep voice came from the doorway. "You are not using those to their full potential."

Startled she whirled around pointing her blades in the direction of the intruder. Seeing who it was her optics widened and she quickly lowered her arms. "O-Optimus... Y-you gave me a fright..."

"I apologise for doing so. I was merely passing by and saw you. I paused to watch for a moment," the leader spoke humbly.

A few seconds of silence passed before Optimus spoke again. "Perhaps you would like some assistance?"

The purple femme's optics widened with surprise at the offer. "Um, but I, I wouldn't want to keep you from anything important..."

"While there are things that must be done, helping out other Autobots is important as well."

Violetwind smiled, her spark warming at his words. "I will gladly accept some assistance then."

Walking into the room he stood opposite her. Suddenly she found herself hoping that his assistance did not actually involve sparring. He was so big! She felt like she would not stand a chance against him, even in a mock battle. Then when out came his own swords she had to withhold a squeak, they were about the size of her whole arm. Her own seems so small and useless in comparison.

As if he could read her mind Optimus spoke softly, "It is not the size of one's weapon but the size of the wielder's spark that matters, along with the way they employ that weapon."

Slowly she nodded, but still did not look convinced.

A tiny smile played briefly on his face before he went on to explain about the weapons. "Now blades are not like fists, as I am sure you have realised. They are able to deal more damage from a weaker hit than fists. Not only are they good weapons they are also useful for defence in protecting against hits from your enemy by using them to block your opponents attack. Making use of them would be preferable over your arm."

Nodding her understanding, she smiled, "I wouldn't have thought to use it block."

"Now, shall we test out what you know?" Optimus took a battle stance, dropping his face mask into place.

Her face fell. "You, erm, you mean right now?"

The Prime nodded, "Indeed."

Fearfully she took her own fighting stance, not ready for this. Not only was he so much taller than her but he was also her leader. How was she supposed to attack him? What if she did and he got hurt?

Not willing to make the first move she kept her distance as they slowly circled one another. Knowing that she was unwilling, Optimus made the first attack. Swinging his sword he aimed for the side of her head, moving much slower than he normally would have. Seeing the attack, she dodged.

_Side roll_, commanded her voice and so using the momentum from the dodge she fell into a roll and jumped up halfway around Optimus' other side.

_Now slice_, instructed the voice.

Without even hesitating she leaped forward, blade extended to nick the larger bot's side.

It all happened rather quickly, something the Prime had not been expecting. She was far more well versed than she gave herself credit for. Turning to face her he held his blades up in a defensive manner in case she struck again. He would have to be more careful next time.

Violetwind was pleased and yet not pleased by her hit on her opponent. Pleased that she had been able to get a hit on the much larger bot but did not like that she had attacked _the_ Optimus Prime.

She did not have time to dwell on it though as he attacked again, this one going for her stomach plates. This time she did not get out of the way quick enough, the blade catching the edge of her waist. She grunted in slight pain but she had been through much worse.

Optimus also took the moment to bring his other sword down towards her head. Not in the position to dodge effectively her voice prompted the next move.

_Blade up_.

Quickly she lifted the arm on that side up. The clang of the blades striking, echoed the room as she blocked his attack.

"You are a fast learner."

The femme grinned slightly. "I like to think I had some good trainers."

Throwing up her arm that had been blocking his sword she pushed it away and jumped back.

Briefly glancing down, her thoughts wandered into a few things she had wondering about herself, about her past. "Optimus..." she spoke softly, "What was I like before?"

The pair circled one another. "You were... different," he told her. He saw her face fall, the mech realising just how different she was now compared to then. He went on, "More outspoken, sterner, stubborn. Very bold."

"I guess I'm not much like that now..."

Smiling behind his mask, the mech comforted her, "Do not dwell on such, Violetwind. You are who you are and we all shall appreciate you for it. For now focus on the task at hand."

Nodding she paced just outside of the mech's range. She silently questioned how she was to effectively attack him anyway, his reach being so much longer than her own.

Her voice spoke up to help out. _You'll need to dart in quickly before he has the chance to react. Just wait for the right moment. _

A few moments went by as she danced outside his radius. Optimus quickly thrust his blade forward, weight leaning heavily on his front ped.

_Now. _

Twisting out of the way she swung one blade at the back of his knee joint, while with the other she landed a small slice to the Prime's waist plates. The mech grunted but quickly brought his blade around to strike her helm with the flat side of the weapon.

Dazed from the surprising retaliation, she stumbled back a few steps. Shaking her head to try and clear it but it did not clear fast enough. Taking advantage of her dazed state, Optimus has closed in on her, pointing his blade at her chest in front of her spark chamber, the tip a few centimetres away.

Regaining her head, Violetwind stared down at the sword. "I think I just lost... badly..."

Letting the blade drop, and transforming his weapons back into hands, the mech removed his mouth plate. "You are quite skilled for having started a week ago. Is it because memories are returning?" he asked hopefully.

Retracting her swords, she shook her head. "My memories are still missing. I have to credit my abilities to my inner voice. It's what coaches me through battles. It's kinda like we're working as a sort of, well, a team," she confessed, not sure of what he would think.

"Although this voice of yours is a mysterious entity I am pleased that it is helpful and not harmful to you," he replied.

"Me too," she smiled as they left the room. Glancing down she checked the cut to her amour plating. A small amount of energon was leaking out but it was nothing serious.

Seeing the energon, Optimus looked down at where she had struck him, those places also needing a small amount of repair. "We ought go visit our medic," he suggested.

Nodding, Violetwind followed as he led the way to the medical bay where Ratchet was working. The white and orange mech whirled around in surprise upon hearing them enter, quickly scrubbing what was on the screens as he did so.

"Optimus, Violetwind," he greeted in a guarded manner. His demeanour immediately changed as he saw their leaking energon. Approaching them he scolded, "What have you two been up to? Neither of you has even left the base!"

"Um, well..." The femme started.

"We have engaged in a small battle. I required knowledge of our latest additions fighting capabilities. The only way to truly determine such, is through a battle. I have deemed her ready to accompany her fellow Autobots on assignments," the Prime explained while Ratchet sat him down to weld up the nick to his side.

The medic glanced over at the purple bot, "So I see she. She got hits on you."

Violetwind stared at the ground and felt her faceplates flush. "I think he was going easy on me..." Though she was both thrilled and terrified that Optimus had just allowed her to go on missions. Sparring with other Autobots was one thing, fighting Decepticons was something else entirely.

Turning back to his work, the medic made a noise in agreement.

Soon enough Optimus was repaired and he left the medical bay to continue his decoding. It was Violetwind's turn to be patched up and she was sitting on the berth.

"So am I really ready to go out there?" she aired her fears to the medic.

While working, Ratchet replied gruffly, "Physically you're healthy and if Optimus says your fighting skills are good enough, then they are."

Her optics glanced over at the mech. He had not really answered like she had been hoping he would, instead almost ducking the question. She wondered if she should try again but did not bother. Most likely he would only avoid it again. It made her wonder what he was hiding though.

"You're all done," Ratchet grumbled, backing off and letting her stand.

"Thanks, Ratchet," hopping off the berth, she headed off to leave. Pausing before she did, Violetwind looked back at the medic asking hesitantly, "You would tell me if there was something wrong, wouldn't you?"

"Of course," he replied quickly, though it did nothing to sedate the worry niggling at her insides.

With a silent nod she left but was unconvinced by his words.

Travelling to the main hub she walked in hearing Smokescreen as he looked over at their leader in admiration. "I'm gonna be a great warrior some day, like Optimus."

"Well train hard and gain some wisdom along the way and I'm sure it'll happen," encouraged Bulkhead.

"Oh it will, it's my destiny," the rookie replied confidently.

"I think I'd settle for a life without worry," Violetwind said quietly as she settled in to stand amongst the group, evidently no one having heard her comment.

The yellow scout beeped at Smokescreen, while Arcee asked, "How so?"

The young mech was only too happy to explain. "Well, one minute I'm on security detail at Iacon, the next, I wake upon the other side of the galaxy to find myself under Optimus' command. I mean what are the chances, right? Things happen for a reason!"

The blue femme rolled her optics, "We get it, Smokescreen," she raised her arm, waving her hand at him dismissively, her voice laced with sarcasm, "You're special, we're lucky to have you."

"All I'm really saying is, I've come a long way and this is one opportunity I don't plan one messing up," he replied earnestly, doing his best to get them to see things his way.

Before they could continue, and possibly turn the conversation into an argument, Optimus interrupted, "Autobots. The next Iacon coordinates have been decoded. Ratchet, ready the ground bridge."

The medic, who had just walked in, went straight over to the ground bridge controls and input the desired location.

Smokescreen stepped forward excitedly, "Last one to the Omega Key has to scrub the energon tanks for a week!"

With another roll of her eyes, Arcee muttered, "Didn't know we were keeping score."

Violetwind just shared a look with the blue femme and a shrug of her shoulders. She was not that eager to get out there anyway.

Optimus promptly dashed the rookie's excitement when he called out those going. "Arcee, Bumblebee. Prepare to roll out."

The scout beeped happily, performing a small fist pump before he and Arcee headed for the ground bridge.

"Wait, what about me?" Smokescreen questioned, clearly disappointed at being left out.

Bulkhead huffed his displeasure. The rookie was not the only one being left behind.

"I mean, me and Bulkhead," he corrected.

"And me," Violetwind broke in, informing the mech, "I can go on missions now too."

He turned to face her, grinning, "Hey, that's great news! Another bot to help kick the 'Con's skidplates."

"The three of you will remain here, in the event I am able to decode a subsequent database entry before the others return," their leader explained.

Ratchet added his own feelings in the matter, "Optimus is right. Considering the very fate of Cybertron is at stake, response time is critical." He glanced briefly at their leader with slight disapproval, knowing that his little sparring session with the femme may have cost them some time. Turning away from the bots he pulled down the ground bridge lever, the swirling vortex appearing immediately.

"Keep your engines idling, kid," Arcee told the overly eager mech. "Come on, Bee, 'destiny awaits.'" The femme threw her head back in mockery before she transformed down into her alt-mode to travel through the ground bridge, quickly followed by Bumblebee as he did the same.

The vortex closed behind them and Bulkhead moved over to stand by Smokescreen. "We call it a pit-stop." The green mech, hit his younger companion on the back, knocking the smaller bot forward, "We'll get back in the race."

The rookie rolled his shoulder from the discomfort caused by the strong slap to the back.

Violetwind grinned, "It's not that bad, Smokescreen. There are worse things to do than wait."

"Exactly," agreed Bulkhead.

Slumping his shoulders, the rookie did not protest any further.

"How about we find a good movie on the telly," the purple femme suggested.

"Yeah, alright," he replied but was not very enthusiastic about it.

Going over to the humans' TV, Violetwind turned it on and started flipping through the channels searching for a good movie that they could watch. She sighed as she flipped through things like _The Notebook_, _2012_, _Titanic_, and a few others. For a moment she considered staying and watching _The Help_ but decided that Smokescreen probably would not enjoy it as much as she might. Instead she settled on a _Star Wars_ movie: _A New Hope_.

"This one's good, Smoke. Lot's of action for ya,"

He turned his attention to the screen, having wandered over after her but otherwise not paid it any mind. The mech soon found himself engrossed in the story, especially liking the action scenes.

Unfortunately for him, the young mech would not be able to finish the movie this time. The monitors were flashing, beeps alerting them to something happening.

"Another key?" asked Smokescreen, his optics locked on the TV.

"No," grunted Ratchet. "It's energon."

Violetwind looked over at the medic. "Well that's good then. We're always in need of more."

Their leader silently weighed his options before letting them know of his decision, "Smokescreen, Violetwind, you will scout out the possible energon source. Be on the look out for Decepticons. Where there is energon they are usually not far away."

A nervous excitement grew within the femme's spark. It would be her first official mission and she hoped she would not mess it up. "I'm ready, Optimus."

Her companion on the other hand was still a little wrapped up in the movie. Rolling her optics, the femme knocked on his helm. "Earth to Smokescreen. We're leaving."

Glancing at her, then back at the TV, then back to her, he groaned. "I'd better be able to see the end of that later."

Violetwind shook her head grinning. "I'll ask one of the humans to bring over a DVD for you. Now come on." Pressing her hands against his shoulder, the femme started to try and push him towards the ground bridge.

"You know today would be nice," grumbled Ratchet, optics narrowed.

"Hey, ok ok," chuckled the white and blue mech. "I'm going." Transforming down into his alt-mode he drove off for the ground bridge. "Now look who's being left behind."

Stumbling a little from the sudden loss of the force she was pushing against, the purple femme caught herself, before glaring good naturedly after him. Quickly she grabbed a scanner from Ratchet before transforming and rolling after him.

"I'm not sure you should have teamed them up..." muttered the medic. "They're both so inexperienced."

Optimus stared at the now closed ground bridge. "Perhaps... We shall see."

...

The pair found themselves in the dusty, rocky desert, surrounded by sparse shrub-land.

"It's this way," the purple femme pointed towards the canyon looking up from the scanner.

Walking over Smokescreen asked, "So they have more movies like that one?"

She nodded. "Yep. There are six of them actually. I'm sure you'll enjoy the rest as well."

"Have you seen them?"

The question actually made her pause, mentally and physically. Something was odd. She remembered things about those movies but could not recall having actually watched them. "I... I might have..." she replied still trying to process it. "Maybe... Do you think this might not be my first time on Earth?"

The mech was taken back by her sudden question. "Why? You remembering something?"

"Yeah, or at least I might b-" she was cut off by an explosion from down in the canyon.

Sharing looks of surprise the pair dropped their conversation and sprinted to the edge. Looking down they saw vehicon troopers scattered around the bottom: dead. The only living thing down there was a certain ex-Decepticon who was just lowering his arm which no longer contained its usual missile.

"Starscream," the mech muttered distastefully.

"Not a friend then?"

Smokescreen shook his head. "He used to be a Decepticon but went rouge. Looks like he cleared out the 'Cons for us though."

Soaking up this information she stared down at the thin silver figure in the valley as he collected the enegon cubes.

Something seemed off about the scene but she could not tell what. Then it clicked. There was no mine entrance around here and so no reason for energon to be there. "Smokescreen, the Decepticons tried to set a trap!"

He snickered at the news, "Good thing Screamer took care of it for us then. All we gotta do it take care of him. C'mon let's get down there."

Before she had a chance to reply, the mech had already thrown himself over the edge, getting down with a combination of sliding and jumping.

Violetwind groaned, watching him go. She was not sure she pull off a decent like that but she had to get down somehow. Getting herself over the edge, the purple femme started making her way down, albeit at a much slower pace than her companion.

Smokescreen had quickly found himself at the bottom of the canyon and prepared his blasters for battle. "Hey Screamy, mind handing over those energon cubes," he asked, weapons pointed at the seeker.

Starscream whirled around to face the mech, a scowl framing his face. "Go to the pit, Autobot." he grumbled, not about to give up the energon he needed and had just fought hard to win.

"After you. I could just blow you and it up with one shot," he narrowed his eyes at the silver mech.

The flier glared at him, "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me," Smokescreen challenged.

Violetwind had finally made her way to the bottom and came up from behind her fellow Autobot, her own blasters at the ready.

A look of surprise crossed Starscream's face, "You?"

The femme's face took on her confusion. Did she know him? "Yes?" she answered not sure what to say.

Smokescreen turned to look back at her, not sure what was going on either. Unfortunately, the ex-Decepticon took advantage of his distraction to quickly fire off his missile above the Autobot. It exploded on the cliff side, rocks coming tumbling down onto the mech; hitting him on the head. He crashed to the ground unconscious under the rubble.

"Smokescreen!" Violetwind yelled rushing over, having managed to escape the main fall of the rocks. Forgetting about Starscream, she started to frantically dig him out.

When she managed to unearth his body she breathed a sigh of relief, he was dented but still alive.

The rouge walked over staring down at the mech tutting, "Such a shame."

"You could have killed him!"

"Well that was the point," he replied in a bored tone. "What happened to you anyway? Still hanging out with the Autobots, I see. Don't suppose you brought a certain femme with you to Earth?"

Violetwind stood up, glancing at the silver mech curiously. From her inner voice she felt like she once knew the seeker. "No. I came alone." Letting a few moments of silence pass, she asked, "Why'd you go rouge, Starscream?"

The mech scoffed, his tone bitter. "What was there to stay for? Megatron tried to scrap me anyway."

She looked over at him sympathetically. "Bit harsh."

Her inner voice chuckled, _He probably deserved it. Starscream was never the most loyal._

"I know," he grumbled, "Megatron just can't appreciate all that I've done for the Decepticon cause. Well no longer, I only serve one now: me!"

_He still hasn't lost his arrogance I see._

_How do we know him?_ she silently questioned her voice.

_We used to know him back before the war and a few times during. Got know him a bit. Even then he wasn't exactly the nicest of guys so you couldn't go about calling him any kind of friend. Perhaps 'acquaintance you have too keep your optic on lest he back-stab you' would best describe him. _

Turning her conversion back to the mech, she asked gently, "Doesn't that get a bit lonely?"

The mech spluttered. "Lonely? Being alone is better than being unappreciated and beat to scrap."

"You could, perhaps just choose a better leader..." The femme tried to subtly suggest changing sides.

He grunted. "Join the Autobots you mean? I'm not ready to be with those bunch of bots too good for their own pedes."

Shrugging she replied, "Well it was just a suggestion." Though she thought it was a little bit of shame he could not be convinced to change sides.

"One which I shall not take. I'll go back to Megatron first." Changing the subject, the mech asked her, "What're you doing on earth then?"

"Um, well, you know dropping by and all," she avoided answering him directly. It wasn't like she knew what she was doing there herself.

Starscream narrowed his red optics at her. "It's not like you to be so unsure of yourself..."

The femme grinned nervously, "Oh really, Starscream? Well you know it has been a while. Bots change..."

He narrowed his optics at her, dissatisfied with the answer. His fingers made a 'shink' noise as he extended his blade like fingers. "You're not the Violetwind I once knew. Who are you really?"

Holding out her blasters at the mech she took a few wary steps backward. "Don't come any closer, Starscream," she warned him, her voice unfortunately not quite carrying the forceful tone she had been going for.

The silver mech merely laughed, not phased by her apparent threat. "Oh come on. Just tell me. It's not like I have anyone to share it with?"

"I'm- I'm Violetwind. Autobot and on Team Prime," she replied nervously, feeling a slight shake in her knees, door wings twitching.

"Please don't play games with me. I knew her. And she would never be as afraid as you, she was much more strong willed," he rolled his optics.

_Scrap, this isn't going well._

Violetwind replied almost shouting, "I- I am her!" She tried to convince him. "I- I just had an accident..." she admitted.

He raised an optic ridge at this, becoming curious.

"My ship, it crashed to Earth and... I don't know what happened..."

_Wait-_

"You don't remember the crash?" he asked a little confused.

"I don't remember what happened, ever..." she clarified.

_Don't-_

Starscream's optics widened. "You lost everything?"

The femme nodded.

_Slag... What did you go and tell him for?!_

_What? Bad idea?_ Her gaze drifted to the ground.

The voice only made a groaning sort of sound. _It could have been. Seriously, why..._

The mech meanwhile blinked a few times. "You don't remember anything? Not a single thing?"

Looking back up at the ex-Decepticon she shook her head. "Not unless she tells me something..." she replied without thinking.

"She?"

Realising what she had let slip, Violetwind groaned raising a blaster to her helm in a face-palm motion. Figuring that it probably could not hurt to just tell him anyway she told him. "Well, there's this voice that talks to me and I know that sounds like I've got some sort of glitch but it's true and is helpful to me."

"Curious..." was all the mech muttered to himself, stroking his chin staring off into the distance. "Did she... Impossible..." His optics met her confused ones and he smirked. "Well I think I'll take my leave of you. You have proven to be most... Interesting..."

It was then that the forgotten Smokescreen started to stir.

"Ah, and not too soon it seems," walking away Starscream quickly piled his arms with half of the energon cubes. "I bid you farewell, 'Violetwind.'" He smirked again before calling up a ground bridge and walking through.

For a moment the femme could only stare after where she had last seen him. It sounded like he might have known something. "And I just let him get away..." she muttered breathlessly, door wings dropping as she realised her mistake.

"Let who get away?" questioned a voice behind her followed by a groan.

Whirling around she immediately went over to the mech, helping him out of the rocks.

"Oh, nothing..." she replied innocently. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just a few dents." Standing up, Smokescreen looked around. "Hey, where's Starscream?"

"He left."

"You chased him off?" he asked in surprise.

"Not _exactly_. We didn't fight. He just walked off, taking some of the energon with him," the purple femme explained.

"But there's still some there," he pointed out. "Couldn't he carry any more?"

Turning her gaze to the blue energon cubes she smiled. "You know I think he could if he had wanted to. I don't think Starscream is as bad as everyone makes him out..."

* * *

I have to admit I quite like the sparring scene with Violet and Optimus. :D  
And forgive my movie choice, I had been rewatching Star Wars at the time of writing this and went with it.

Side note: I saw a car that looked like Violet this week! Ok so it was a Ford not a Holden but it was the perfect colour to what I imagined her in the first place, plus rear spoiler (gotta love those things). Rather wish I'd had my phone on me at the time to get a photo :(


End file.
